Kaleen Jones: Wicked
by EKFischer6293
Summary: **Sequel to Kaleen Jones: Neverland** After being thrown back into the Enchanted Forest from another curse, Kaleen ends up spending eight months with her father and then receives an urgent message to make Emma remember again. When her and Hook return to Storybrooke, Kaleen's past and family tree is unraveled and revealed as she fights flying monkeys and a so called Wicked Witch
1. Chapter 1

As soon as the curse cleared, I stood, staring at my surroundings, my home, the place I was born. The trees looked the same. The gravel road looked the same. The grass under my feet felt the same.

When I looked down, I gasped. I wasn't wearing my coat with the blood stain or my jeans or a short-sleeved shirt. I wore a cloak that was only four inches from touching the ground, gold designs decorated the edges and swirled on my back, the same cloak I wore when I ran to protect Emma.

My dress wasn't a ball gown. It didn't come out. It was simple, a light purple, long-sleeved with the end of the sleeve wrapped around my pointer finger. I had no shoes on. With a flick of my wrist, I felt them change to boots, assassin boots I would wear constantly during training.

My hair was twisted behind me in a high bun.

Everyone also wore what they did before they went to Storybrooke. Especially Regina, who wore the dress she wore when she tried to kill me.

"Kaleen?"

I whipped my head around, meeting the gaze of my father, who looked no different, wearing his leather. I smiled weakly.

"Hey," I replied. I could still remember the last thing I saw; Henry's gaze as he gazed back at us, the necklace on him. I gripped where it used to be. I would never see that necklace again.

It wasn't long before Charming and Snow got back on horseback, getting ready to ride back to their castle-that was Regina's. I grabbed Charming's hand as he lifted me onto the horse. Blue must have been close by. I sat behind him.

"Aye," I glanced at my father, who spoke while messing with the bags on the horses. "Well, that would be lovely, if I were going to the Queen's castle." I stared at him in shock.

"You're not coming?" I asked.

"Where are you going?" Charming asked. I stared at him, while he glanced at me for a second. Was he leaving me?

"Listen, mate. The Enchanted Forest is your home," he paused. "The Jolly Roger is mine." I swallowed. He met my gaze. "I love you, lass, but this isn't my home. This is where you belong. You are a magic user. You need to stay." I slid off of the horse, wrapping my arms around him as I hugged him. Tears stained my eyes.

"Why must you keep leaving me?"

"I'm not, love," he whispered. "You've been on the Roger. You can come visit whenever you'd like." I swallowed as he wiped the tears from my eyes with his hand, not hook.

"But I don't want us to be seperated."

"Trust me, love," he replied. "You need to continue your magic, here." I didn't reply, only holding his gaze. He sighed. "As your father, I order you to stay with the Blue Fairy." I nodded, squeezing him again.

"I'll visit," I said, walking away to a horse the dwarfs got for me. I thanked them, and swung my leg over the horse. I stared at my father, watching him as he mounted his and turned away, meeting me gaze before we parted, my chest tightening as he disappeared from view.

-Six Weeks Later-

"Listen," Blue said. I breathed in, listening to my surroundings. "Find me, Kaleen." I stood, reaching out. "Feel my presence." I lunged forward, not touching her. I swore she was there. "Anticipate." I whipped around, blindfold on as I reached again. I was so close. I felt her teleport.

I groaned in frustration, turning around in the clearing.

"Kaleen!"

I pulled the blindfold off, seeing Regina walk up to me. Blue teleported to my side, sighing in frustration.

"Regina?" I asked. "It's been a few weeks." She nodded.

"I thought I'd find you here," she said, walking all the way up to the clearing. I blew a curl out of my face that had escaped the bun my hair was in. "I see you're gaining your magic back."

"I never lost it, Regina," I replied. "I just need a little time to get back into it."

She nodded. "I feel the same way. The Enchanted Forest's magic is very different than Storybrooke's." I nodded, shivering when the wind picked up.

"Kaleen," Blue said. "Why don't you continue on your own." With a poof, Blue left me, standing with Regina. She never had quite forgiven Regina for the curse put upon us.

"Well, then," Regina took another step forward. "Why don't you practice with me?" I gaped at her for a second.

"Regina—"

"I'm serious, Kaleen," she replied. "You've been only trained with light magic. The best are trained with both light and dark."

"Look who's talking, of Evil."

"Kaleen," she huffed. "Put the blindfold on and try again." I moaned, pulling it back over my eyes, cutting off my vision. "Find me." I reached out, spreading my magic like tentacles of an octopus. I sensed her. I lunged forward, but caught nothing but dead air.

I groaned, whipping around again, lunging forward and grumbling in frustration when I hit a tree.

"Come find me, Fairy Pirate."

"Regina!" I exclaimed, throwing myself at her again. "Don't call me that!"

"Why not?" She questioned. "It motivated you. You got closer."

"I'm trying not to be so overcome with rage that I curse an entire world, thank you very much," I snapped, whipping around. I could feel her teleport, just out of my reach.

"Fairy Pirate."

"Evil Queen!" I spat. Anger flooded my veins. I threw myself at her again, missing her by a centimeter away from her hair .

"You're getting closer," I heard her voice to my right, but felt her on my left. I curled my hands into fists so hard, my nails dug into my palms. "Come on, Pirate. You gave up your piracy for what? To fail? To not be able to find a simple person?"

"Simple person? You are never simple, not even when it comes to adopting a child." Then, I knew I had crossed the line. I felt a wave of magic be thrown. I dodged-barely. When I reached up to take the blindfold off, it seemed to be stuck to my face. A spell. Regina made me blind.

And she was fighting me.

"Regina!" I yelled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." I heard nothing but silence. I swallowed. I had provoked the Evil Queen. I wished my reflexes were as fast as my brain. I wished my brain was faster than my mouth.

I felt something worm closer, under the ground. Long and snake like. I kneeled down, feeling what was under me, allowing it to inch closer as I felt it slither over.

I jumped, shooting down at it before it lunged and attacked. A vine, thick and strong threatened to wrap around me, to render me helpless. I gasped as magic shot out of my hands.

Then I felt her.

I threw myself out of the way of the vine, lunging forward and rolling under as it swung itself, continuing to attempt to attack. Before she could strike again, I jumped forward, grabbing her wrist. She gasped in shock.

"I found you," I said. The tightness around my eyes fell away and I peeled the blindfold off my face. I met Regina's gaze, letting go of her wrist. She stared at me, saying nothing. She wasn't snarling or frowning or smiling, just staring.

"Regina," I breathed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. We both know that's not true." I swallowed as she said nothing, but then, suddenly, she smiled. A smile that a mother would give when they were proud. I stared at her. "Regina? Are you...alright?"

"Kaleen," she replied. "No one has done that as fast as you did. Rumple did that to me and…" she smirked. "Let's say I came back with more than a few bruises."

"Are you saying I'm faster at learning than you?" I asked. She smirked again.

"That can be said," she replied. "But I think it's because of what magic you chose to use." I stared at her, saying nothing. "You chose light."

"You provoked me," I said. "You tried to get me to use-"

"Dark magic, yes," she replied. "I did." I stared at her, saying nothing. Suddenly, Blue returned, gasping when she realized what Regina had done.

"Why are you provoking her!" Blue exclaimed, walking between us. "She is not your student, Regina." I glanced between them.

"You're right," Regina replied, meeting her challenge. "And she is not your daughter." I held back a gasp. "You know she doesn't belong here, Blue. She may hold magic, but she isn't a fairy."

"Regina," I said. "I chose to go. I chose to continue my training."

"Your father actually forced you to," Regina replied. "He ordered you to. Have you visited him?" I shook my head.

"I haven't had much time," I said softly. Regina glanced back at Blue, almost threateningly.

"You don't want her to leave, don't you?" Regina asked.

"She could leave whenever she wants."

"Then why the constant training?" Regina asked. "She's at least as powerful as me. She needs to learn on her own. That's an important way to learn how your magic grows." She met my gaze.

"Regina," I said. "I want to stay."

"Are you sure?" Regina questioned. I stared in silence, saying nothing more. My gaze met the floor. Regina's gaze snapped back to Blue's. "She's lost her purpose," she continued. "The youngest heir, Henry, can't be protected anymore. Not from here. Her oath is useless and you know this, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Blue snapped. "Why are you all of a sudden defending her? Is she your student?" Regina shook her head.

"No," she replied, eyes moving up to mine. "She's family." My eyes widened in shock as Regina teleported away without another word.

I sat down on the floorboards of my room, the room Snow provided when I made my oath to her family...although, it technically wasn't the room I had left. It was in Regina's castle, not Snow's.

The room was simple, but comfortable. A large bed with a curtain that could cover the sides stood, a lavender and white color, swirling around with golden pillow, much like the bed I had left behind. My cloak hung in the corner, next to the balcony. I had a closet with many dresses and boots as well as leather for combat.

They really overdid themselves.

The only touch I added were the dreamcatchers. They decorated my room, each holding all the memories I had of each person I've ever met. I still remember them in my head, but these duplicates will make me feel as if I was there.

It reminded me of home.

I pulled the one decorated with beads that spelled the name 'Henry' at the bottom. Each person was decorated individually. Each person had their unique names in different ways. I walked and sat on my bed, legs crossed as I stared down at the dreamcatcher, the holder of my memories with Henry.

Summoning my magic, a random memory played out in front of me.

—Then—

 _I pushed into my middle splits, folding over to do my Algebra homework. I wrote hard, scribbling down numbers. I played the music louder, a simple soundtrack that my father had left—at least who the curse told me was my father._

 _In those memories, my parents died in a car wreck._

 _I jumped as I heard a knock at the door. Granny had allowed me to stay in one of her rooms as long as I helped at the inn and I had. I turned off the music, standing up from my splits and yoga mat._

 _It was strange. Before the curse, I used to go in the forest alone and mediate. Faith Wood, my curse name, would do yoga. I was as flexible as a rubber band._

 _I walked to the door, opening it, expecting to see Granny, asking me to work another shift, but it wasn't. It was Madame Mayor._

 _I gasped. "Madame Mayor," I said. "This is a pleasant surprise." Her eyes looked bloodshot as she carried around a car seat with...Henry inside, fast asleep._

 _"Faith," she said. "May I come in?" I nodded, leading her with my hand._

 _"Of course," I replied, closing the door. She paused, looking down at the mat and then at me, staring at my yoga pants and halter top._

 _"You do yoga?" She asked. I nodded again._

 _"It soothes me," I replied. She set the car seat on the mat, turning to me._

 _"I need a favor," she said as I twisted my hair into a bun behind me. "You're one of the only teenagers in this town, one of the only girl ones to be exact." I smirked._

 _"That's true."_

 _"I was wondering if you would be willing to be Henry's babysitter for a few hours," she said. I stared at her for a second._

 _"You trust me with your son?" I asked. "I'm a mess."_

 _"You're better than you think," Regina replied, almost in a sarcastic voice. I stared down at Henry, kneeling as he slept._

 _"I can," I replied. "You look like you need some rest, Madame Mayor." She smirked, nodding._

 _"Thank you," she said. "I'll be back at nine. Is that alright?"_

 _I nodded. "I'll call if there's any trouble." With that, she took a sharp breath and walked out of my room._

 _That was the first time I met Henry._

 _It was the first time I held him._

 _The first time he saw me._

 _The first time he smiled at me, that warm, innocent smile._

 _The first time I hoped for a family, even though mine was torn and broken._

 _The first time in my life I had truly felt something else, something that wasn't anger or disgust or fear or happiness._

 _I had felt love._

—Now—

"Still awake?"

I jumped, seeing Snow standing in the doorway. I brought my hand to my chest, sliding off the bed, leaving the dreamcatcher.

I shrugged. "Can't sleep." She smiled warmly as she walked into my room, closing the door behind her. She noticed the dreamcatchers and stared as they decorated the walls, each with a name.

"What are all these for?" She asked. I smiled.

"They hold memories," I replied. "Memories of each person I...remember." I swallowed. "I watch them a lot. It just reminds me of home, of Emma and…" my voice trailed off. "Henry." Snow walked to me calmly, draping an arm over my shoulder.

"I miss them too," she replied. I swallowed.

"But they don't miss us," I said, choking. "They don't remember us." Snow smiled gently, squeezing my shoulder.

"They do in stories," Snow said. "You should get some sleep, Kaleen." I nodded.

"I know," I replied. Snow squeezed my shoulder before she nodded and left the room. I turned to the bed and stared at it in silence before I walked outside, opening the doors to the balcony. I leaned on the barrier around the edges, allowing the wind to gently blow threw my hair to my side, almost falling out of my bun.

I took in a sharp breath, closing my eyes as I heard nothing but silence. Soon, as my brain traveled in thought, I ended up crawling into bed, curling up and staring at moon as I was devoured in darkness.

 _I was inches from being lifted off the ground by a creature that looked like a monkey, but had wings and fangs. It screeched, whipping around. I don't think it was targeting me. As I turned, there was a boy, small, no older than three._

 _I threw myself in front of him, the creature digging its talons in my sides, lifting me up in the air. Screaming, I failed my arms, trying to push it off me. As I shot a wave of magic, it dropped me. I tumbled in the grass and leaves, blood oozing out of me. I gasped, climbing out of the forest and onto the road, asphalt and black. As I turned to look up, a car swerved around me. I curled up in a ball as it haunted, turning back at me._

 _The driver got out, mortified. It was Regina. She ran over, helping me to my feet. I gasped, clutching my stomach, the puncture wounds. I waved my hand over the wounds, but they didn't heal._

 _She got me in the car, laying me down in the back seat. She turned to me, facing me and speaking softly._

 _"You're going to be alright," she said. I gasped, moaning. I shook my head. That's when I heard another voice. When I looked in the passenger seat, Snow sat there._

 _"What's wrong with her?" She asked frantically._

 _"I've been stabbed!" I exclaimed. "I'm bleeding! Do you not see them!"_

 _"Kaleen, can you hear us?" Regina asked. I glared at her, moaning in pain._

 _"Get me to the hospital, Regina," I hissed. "Before I bleed out."_

 _I felt a hand. I turned my head sharply as Blue was gripping onto my arm. I gasped, holding myself together as I almost doubled over in pain. "Help me!" I screamed. "Please!"_

 _"Regina," Blue said. "I need you to do something for me. If I strike out, pull me away from Kaleen."_

 _"I will."_

 _"Why would you strike out!" I asked, barely speaking at all, more like a moan. Suddenly, Blue gripped my arm tighter and I gasped again, suddenly appearing in the middle of Storybrooke. I could see the creatures ripping things apart, picking people be lifted up in the sky, screaming._

 _"Kaleen?"_

 _I whipped my head around. Henry stood, frozen. He couldn't move._

 _"Help me!" Henry screamed. I bolted, full force to him, throwing myself at him when another creature charged him._

 _Then, everything flashed white._

I jolted to my senses, sitting straight up. Blue was on the ground. Regina gripped my arm. I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead.

Snow was over Blue, checking her pulse. "Still strong." I stared at her and then looked around the room, soon bringing my hands to my mouth in horror. I choked tears.

"Kaleen," Regina said. "You're fine." I shook my head.

"I thought I had learned to control those," I replied. Snow stood up, meeting my gaze.

"Control what?"

"My visions," I said. "When I have them, I sometimes act out in my sleep. I almost killed Blue when I was younger." I swallowed. "She broke the vision. I could have died." I shuddered.

"You act out?" Snow asked. I nodded.

"I have them before a big event," I said. "When I was in Storybrooke, before the curse, I had a vision and created a storm cloud over my father's ship. When I was younger, when Blue tried to stop them, I…" my voice trailed off again. "...I almost ripped out her heart." I sniffed. "I can't hurt anyone anymore."

"I have a solution," Blue said, standing up. I turned to her. "I saw your vision. It was strong. If I hadn't pulled you out of it, you may have died." She cleared her throat.

"Blue, I'm sorry," I said, swallowing. "I didn't mean—"

"Each one who posses magic had one particular one that is strong. Your's is the future," she said. "Sometimes it can me Empathy or teleportation." I took another shuddering breath, seeing how the sun peeked over the horizon.

"Your gift is strong, Kaleen," she said. "You need to be where magic is not as strong so you can learn to control it. You need to go and not use more difficult spells." I stared at her, saying nothing.

"What's the solution?" Regina asked. "We can't just send her on her own."

"I won't send her on her own," Blue said. "I'm going to send her to her father."


	2. Chapter 2

The bag I was bringing was small. I could change my clothes with magic. I bought three dreamcatchers; Emma, Henry and Adeline, my mother's. I threw the bag over my shoulder, walking out to the balcony. They had already wished me goodbye. All I had to do was teleport.

I breathed in a slow, deep breath before picturing the Jolly Roger, closing my eyes to remember it's deck.

I gasped as I opened my eyes, falling a little too far to catch myself. I teleported again, so I touched the ground, but ended up missing and landing on my face. Grunting and moaning in frustration, I attempted to push myself to my knees, but I suddenly felt more than one cold blade against my back.

The wood felt strange, on course, I had never laid down on the deck of my father's boat before.

"Don't move, lass," I heard a deep voice order. I felt the blade dig deeper into my spine. I bit my lip, not moving or saying anything as they ripped the bag from my shoulders and dumped out the contents inside; my dreamcatchers, my dagger and a necklace that I could contact Blue with. It was a simple silver chain with an amethyst at the end. That was the first thing they played with.

"Don't touch that!"

The blade dug deeper. I took in a sharp breath. Bloody pirates. What did I expect them to be? Gentlemen?

"Who are you?" The gruff voice asked. "And how did you get on the ship?" My eyes narrowed at the floor.

"You're not the Captain," I hissed. "And the captain is the only person I will speak to." A hand gripped my shoulder and turned me onto my back. The blade was now at my neck, held tightly. I darted into the man's eyes.

Brown, dark.

"You will answer to me," he snapped. His hair was dark too. I narrowed my eyes. Even as he inched the blade closer to my throat, I didn't show a sign of fear.

"I will not," I replied. "I answer to the captain and the captain alone." He snarled, hands digging into my hair—a threat no doubt. I simply rolled my eyes. "You have no idea what you're doing, pirate."

"Answer to me or I swear I'll use you as a dagger throwing target."

"Ooo. Exciting, isn't it?" I asked. I gasped at my words. I was reacting kind of like...Pan. A shiver wormed up my spine. I was acting like the person I hated most, the person I saw get killed in front of me and didn't feel a damn thing about.

He glared at me, saying nothing, as if I was supposed to me afraid of him. As if a woman was supposed to be afraid of a big man with a dagger at their neck. He growled, holding the knife at my throat with one hand and shackling my wrist with the other.

"Pretty impressive multitasking," I said, chuckling. He gripped my wrist, yanking me to my feet. He snarled at me before tuning me to the other side of the ship, the part that would lead me to the quarters.

The Captain's quarters.

He pushed me forward. I obliged, walking up the steps to the deck and turning to look at the cover. The man opened the door and forced me in, also forcing me to duck. I stumbled down the ladder, hitting my head on the ceiling above, a wooden plank that stuck out too far.

"Captain," the gruff man said. The captain face away from us, staring out the window, rolling a coin between his fingers.

"What have I told you about disturbing me without a proper reason?" The captain snapped, not even turning around.

"There's a witch," the man replied. I sent him a glare.

"A witch?" The captain asked, pausing his coin roll. He slowly turned around. "What have I told you about bringing bloody sirens on..." My father froze, meeting my gaze, pausing to stare at me, and then down at my shackles. Then, he grinned.

"That's not a witch," he said. "That's a fairy." I smirked. "Take her bloody shackles off, Gruff." I bit my lip, holding in a laugh. _His name is Gruff?_

"Captain, that may not be wise saying she does most likely to possess magic—"

"You think I can't handle myself?" He hissed. "Take her bloody shackles off." The man, Gruff, glared at me before unlocking each cuff, allowing them to fall off my wrists and to my feet. "You can leave now."

"Captain—"

"Leave," he said. The man glared at me again before walking back up the ladder, closing the trapdoor behind him. Before I even turned my head back to my father, he have covered the whole room and picked me up in his arms, spinning me.

"Kaleen," he breathed. "I haven't seen you in a while, love."

"That's because Blue thought it would interfere with my magic as it grew," I replied. He raised an eyebrow.

"You came without her consent?"

"No," I said. "She sent me herself." He paused.

"That doesn't make sense, lass," he said. I bit my lip as he let me stand on my own feet, turning to him.

"My magic grew too much," I said. I gripped my father's hands. "It's better if I show you." He stared down at my hands before I squeezed them, allowing magic to flood into his as I recalled what had happened. He took in a sharp breath as I pulled away, leaving off when Blue had told me I needed to stay away from magic for a while since mine was growing too fast.

"Well," he smirked. "Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger." I smiled. "But first. You need to have the proper dressing." I raised an eyebrow as he opened the chest. "This came over with the curse." It was my mother's pirate outfit. It was much like the one he wore, leather all the way down to the boots, black. The only difference was the long-sleeved underneath, which was white. "If you could just—" with a wave of my hand, the outfit was on and my dress and cloak laid neatly in the chest. He smirked again, walking me to the ladder and pausing. "You're hair is too—"

"Fairy?" I asked. I unclipped it, allowing it to fall, my curls everywhere, frizzy and thick at my sides. All I did with the simple clip was push the hair out of my face. With magic, I held a red cloth and tied it around my forehead. Keeping my hair out of my face.

"That's perfect," he said. "Wait here." He climbed up the ladder. I could hear his voice through the trapdoor. "I have an announcement to make, lads!" I smiled as he continued. "Being a pirate can be difficult, trust me. But what if we had someone who could help us?" He glanced down at me and nodded. I climbed up the ladder, exposing myself as I climbed out of the trapdoor.

Gruff only glared at me. The rest of the crew seemed to stare in confusion. I saw Smee, who I had only seen a few times in Henry's story book. I haven't met him before.

My father put a hand down on my shoulder. "Meet my daughter, lads," he said. It was strange to me that he suddenly let me into his life, even though for forty-four years(sixteen here and twenty eight in Storybrooke) he didn't know of my existence.

"Kaleen," he said. My eyes darted around, meeting every one of their gazes. "So let's teach her the ways of a pirate!"

—Six Weeks later—-

We docked on a large island, which was a main training route between kingdoms, perfect for a pirate and their crew. I gripped the shrouds, leaning against the rope, as it held me back.

My head snapped to Hook, who walked off the ship, gleaming and breathing in a sharp breath, as if he was home. I smirked, not following him. He didn't give the order.

"Have at it, lads!" He exclaimed. They seemed to flood off the ship. Smee, however stayed behind. I adjusted the grip of my sword. On the belt, I carried a sword on one side and a dagger on the other.

I waited a moment before stepping onto the docks, staring around at the tall, clay buildings and cobblestone path. I smiled at the stray dogs putting their snout where they didn't belong inside goods and such.

Smirking, I walked down the path, my eyes darting at everything; the people, the buildings, the goods, the animals, the yelling, the carts, the laughter. I could see why my father enjoyed being a pirate. He could go anywhere he wished and see so many beautiful things.

That was most likely when he met my mother. How he met her. I still wasn't sure if he truly loved her or was having a little fun. He was a very different man then, and he still has qualities I despise now, but he was my father.

I turned, staring at the tavern, where most had gone to. I didn't think it was fit for me to go in there and drink...but I was older than I looked. I smirked as a cloaked figure bumped into my shoulder. I watched the figure disappear around the corner.

Damn it, curiosity. I followed him in silence, however, my boots seemed to make more noise than I planned.

"Who are you?" I asked, resting my hand on the grip of my sword. The figure stopped. I picked up what I said right away. Only six weeks with my father and my accent sounded more like his. I didn't mind. That's who I was.

"So, it's true," the man replied, turning around to take off his cloak. I cocked my head.

"Is what, true?" I asked.

"You're a Jones," he replied. I smirked again.

"A Jones?" I asked. "You'll have to be more specific, lad." The man stepped closer. The light he hid from lit up his face. Sharp features and a scar. He grinned.

"You're Killian Jones's daughter, aren't you?" He asked. I didn't have time to reply before someone behind me took my dagger and snuffed out the lights.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why is it that the woman is always the one abducted?" Was the first thing I said when I awoke, snapping my head up. The man with two others glared at me. Even shackled, I could escape. I had magic after all.

"Because the men are usually the ones who get into trouble," he snapped. I smirked at that, adjusting how I sat, one leg over the other. I played with the chains behind me, binding my wrists together.

"You think this is a joke, Jones?" He hissed. I shrugged.

"I can easily escape," I replied. "So, yes." My head throbbed. The man stormed over, resting his hand on the back of the chair, leaning me back. When I looked back, there was a hole.

"This is building needs a few repairs, I see," I said, meeting his gaze.

"If I let go, you'll fall and die," he snarled as all I did was roll my eyes.

"You're not going to let go because you want Hook to see me die," I replied, smiling. "I know how these things work."

"You've been captured before?" He asked, unsure.

"Yes, actually," I said, thinking of Neverland. "It was about three months ago on an island. I was kept hostage for a while." I hid my fear as I tried to recall the memories of Neverland. I hated that place and would never go back.

Suddenly, the door swung open. I rolled my eyes as Hook stepped into view. The chair leaned farther back.

"Now, Hook," he hissed. "You will pay for your mistakes." Hook glanced at me as I winked. The man turned back at me. "Any last words, Jones?"

I shrugged. "I think I'll use you as a human shield against one of your men with the bow. Then I'll steal your dagger that is mine and take back my sword." He actually laughed.

"How will you do that, lass?" He hissed. I glanced at my father.

"You know the chains you shackled me with?" I asked. "Well…" I brought my wrists to his face. The chain was snapped in the middle. "They seemed to have snapped." I jumped off the chair as he let go. It fell to the bottom of the building, which wasn't very far.

I grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him as another one of his men aimed and shot his crossbow, killing him. I flipped out of the way of another arrow, throwing my dagger, catching the man's sleeve and pinning him to the wall. I kicked him unconscious as the other grabbed my waist, throwing my over his shoulder, but before he could, I wrapped my legs around his neck and flipped, throwing him to the ground.

My father stared at me in confusion. I grabbed my dagger, allowing the man to fall to the floor and then took my sword, sliding them both back into their compartments.

"Kaleen...how?"

"The Blue Fairy didn't require me to just learn magic," I said, walking out the door and into the streets. I saw his crew and smiled warmly. He closed the door as he commanded his crew, some almost too drunk to stand back to the ship.

I laid on the bowsprit, staring up at the stars, watching as they twinkled in the night sky. They looked as if they were dancing.

—then—

 _"Tell me a story," Henry said as I tucked in his covers. His mother wouldn't be home for at least another hour. I sat on the corner._

 _"A story?" I asked. "What kind of story?"_

 _"One about stars," he replied. I smirked, kneeling down by the bedside. I took in a sharp breath, thinking._

 _"Alright," I said. "There was one my mother used to tell me. It was about the first star." Henry smiled, all ears._

 _"There was a man who fell in love with a beautiful woman. Her name was Star," I said. "Before, there were no lights in the sky besides the moon. People would get lost, but Star's dream was to give everyone a happy ending, a way to find love." I swallowed before I continued. "Before Star could make that happen, a wicked night witch killed her." Henry gasped. "As Star lay dying, her husband leaned over and kissed her. This was the first kiss of true love." He smiled._

 _"Did she get healed?" He asked. I smiled, shaking my head._

 _"The husband wished for her dream to be fulfilled, to lead the way to travelers in the night and lead them to happiness," I said. "And the first star was born. They were named after Star."_

 _"What about the other stars?" Little Henry asked._

 _"Every star is a person, who died as a good soul," I said. "Constellations link families together and love tethers hope in happiness." I kissed his forehead. "Know that love is always stronger than evil, Henry, even if it's too dark to see the other side."_

—now—

"You have a lovely voice, M'lady."

I shot up to a sitting position, almost losing my balance on the bowsprit. I squinting, but only saw a simple outline, one with a hat above their head.

"Smee?"

"I didn't mean to frighten you, m'lady," he replied. I stared at him for a moment before sliding onto the deck.

"I didn't know I was singing," I said, pushing a lock of hair out of my face.

"No very loudly, m'lady. You were, though and it sounded quite nice." I smiled, nodding as I walked to him calmly.

"Thank you, Smee," I said, pausing before continuing. "And you don't need to call me, m'lady. Kaleen will work just fine." He smiled. He was a timid man, but he nodded. I cocked my head. "What's your first name?"

"My first name?"

"Yes," I said. "What is your first name?" He swallowed.

"The captain will not call his crew members by their first names," he replied. I sighed, my eyes glancing around before looking back at him.

"I'm not the captain, am I?" I asked. He shook his head.

"But he said to treat you with the same respect."

"Then I command you to tell me your first name," I said in a soft tone with and edge, showing my annoyance, but hiding a threat. Smee swallowed.

"William," he said, looking at the deck. "My name is William." I smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Smee doesn't fit you," I said. "William does. I think I'll call you that." He stared at me for a moment before suddenly hugging me, as if he was grateful for even acknowledging that he was human.

"Thank you," he whispered. I nodded, uncomfortable and unsure on how to react. He smiled at me again before I walked to the captain's quarters, ducking my head to make sure not to hit the plank of wood that suck out too far.

My father looked asleep. I walked over to the small chest I had and opened it, taking out the dreamcatcher that said; Adeline. I sat on my bed, commanding it to play, to watch the only memories I had with her.

 _I ran through the thick fields of grass, tumbling as my mother came up from behind me, tickling me, lifting me up in the air and spinning me in the air. I laughed as my hair went flying. Her's did too as it fell out of her braid she had twisted behind her._

This was also the memory when I discovered I had magic and was one of the last ones I had with my mother. This memory was also the reason why I knew who Pan was when we met him.

 _Adeline set me down, brushing a wave of hair out of my face. "Can you play by yourself for a few minutes?" She asked. I nodded._

 _"Yes, mommy," I said, voice higher than it was now. She turned to the house as I ran to the large, oak tree, sitting down to lean against it. I stared up at the birds playing in the branches and just watched them._

 _"I wish I could fly," I said._

 _"You wish to fly?"_

 _I whipped around, scrambling to my feet when a teenage boy stood, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, staring down at me. "I can help with that."_

 _I picked up a nearby stick and held it up like a sword. Adeline had told me to never trust strangers. I know now that it was because how many enemies my father had._

 _"Get away from me."_

 _"Oh? Why do you wish to taunt me with a stick, little girl?" He asked, kneeling down. I scrambled back a few more steps._

 _"You're a stranger. Mommy said to never trust strangers," I hissed as threateningly as I could, but I was still only four or five._

 _"What about your daddy?" He asked. I bit my lip, but said nothing. He smirked. "I know your father."_

 _"You know my father?" I asked. "Is he a good man?"_

 _"First you have to tell me your name," he said, inching closer. I backed away again, pointing the stick that wasn't even sharpened at him._

 _"Kaleen," I breathed. He chuckled._

 _"I'm Peter," he said, holding out his hand. I stared at it before I reached out and took it. Suddenly, he lifted me up, holding me at his waist. "Now, let's fly." I squirmed against him._

 _"Put me down!" I screamed. "Peter! Put me down!" I gripped his arm and wished for him to let go, and suddenly, a light shot out from my fingers, causing him to drop me. I caught myself and ran, but he grabbed my arm again._

 _"I can't let you go anywhere, love," he said. I cried out in panic, wishing for the light to come back to my fingers again._

 _Before anything else happened, a dagger came flying, nailing the shoulder of Peter's shirt to the tree behind. My mother ran to me, picking me up, backing away from him._

 _"What do you want with my daughter, boy?" Adeline hissed. As he pulled the dagger out of the tree, my mother flicked her hand and the tree wrapped around his wrists and yanked them back._

 _"Let's just say Hook has some business and needs motivation," Peter said, yanking on the branches holding him back._

 _"You're not laying a finger on her," my mother hissed. "I left that circle long ago. She has nothing to do with it."_

 _"I beg to differ, love," he replied. "Her magic is strong."_

 _"Leave her alone," she fired. "Because my magic is strong too."_

 _"You can't keep her safe forever!"_

 _Adeline ran with me inside the house, setting me down on my bed, laying me back and refusing to allow me to stand._

 _"Mommy, I'm fine," I said. She kissed my forehead._

 _"Did he tell you his name, Kaleen?" She asked. I nodded._

 _"He said it was Peter," I replied. Her face turned pale and she glanced out the window. Taking a deep breath, she gripped my arm._

 _"This will sting a little, alright?" She said. I didn't reply, but stared at her in shock. "That is a very bad boy, Kaleen. He has very bad magic. He's the most dangerous boy of all."_

 _"He said he can fly," I said. Adeline bit her lip._

 _"I'm going to protect you with a spell," she whispered. She gripped my arm and I suddenly felt a wave of pain shoot through my body. I could feel her magic rise and cover me at the surface and then sinking into my body in silence._

"Kaleen?"

My head snapped up to my father's gaze. I placed the dreamcatcher down, meeting it.

"You need to sleep, lass," he said. "Magic doesn't substitute for sleep." I laughed, nodding.

"Trust me, I know," I replied. I placed the dreamcatcher back into the chest and turned over, burying my head to go to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I walked up to the deck just as the sun rose, the beautiful colors spreading out over the horizon. I stood, staring, crossing my arms at the arms of color that flooded my eyes, the beautiful paints of light.

"You're up early."

I didn't turn my head to know who it was.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Sorry about that, love," Killian stepped into the edge of my vision. I braided my hair behind me, continuing to watch the sunrise. My eyes darted to my father's.

"There's one thing we haven't done," I said, grinning. I pulled my sword out of the area at my belt. "A sword fight."

He chuckled. "Sorry, love, but I'd destroy you."

"I've learned," I replied. "Maybe not as well as you, but Henry sure taught me a few things."

"Henry?"

"Yes," I adjusted my grip on the sword. He sighed, taking out his sword. "I have magic, so I can heal if one of us gets hurt." I paused. "And I know you're better than me, father. I just need to improve if I'm going to be a pirate the rest of my life."

With my hand behind me, ready and the other holding the grip of the sword, we circled before he advanced. Jabbing forward, I jumped out of the way, grabbing onto the shrouds before turning and getting back on the deck.

"You're quick," he said. I smirked, jabbing my sword forward, missing him by inches. The iron clashed loudly as they hit one another. Neither of us could catch the other off guard. I guessed I was a fast learner. Every move he made that was close, I knew how to counterattack the next time.

The blade graced my arm. I could heard the rasp of fabric being cut from my arm. I whipped around, gracing his side.

The metal clashed. I slid under a swing, jabbing at his leg and getting him in the calf. He was fast too, though. Before I could turn around, the sword was already at my neck. He pulled me to his chest, holding me there.

My eyes darted up, smiling.

"That was fun," I said. He chuckled.

"You're much better than I thought, love," he replied, letting me go. With a wave of my hands, our wounds were healed. I slid my sword back in its place.

"And I'll get even better," I said, grinning.

Much, much better.

—eight months later—

"What was your find, love?" My father asked when we stepped back on the boat. He had asked me to take a few of his men on the island to follow the map. I handed him a coin purse.

"A jewel," I replied. "Amethyst." He opened the bag, looking at it before shoving it back in my grasp. The boat's sails opened and we sailed away from the island. We were going back to the Enchanted Forest for some sort of event. I had no idea what it was, but my father said I needed to be there.

I crossed my arms, staring at the horizon. Willian took a seat next to me.

"You a great pirate," he said. I smirked, shrugging.

"Thanks, William," I replied. He smiled, adjusting the position of his hat. I glanced up at a bird that flew and perched itself on the mast. It had some sort of appear and potion-looking thing tied to it. I climbed up to the crow's nest and held my hand out. It hopped onto my finger. I pulled out the parchment and position.

"Thank you," I whispered as the bird flew away. I opened the rolled parchment.

 _Give this to Emma. We need her. Her family needs her._

 _Neil_

I held the potion in my hands, swirling it. "What is this?" I asked the silence. I popped open the cap, placing only one drop in my hand. I gasped when a sudden flash of memories filled me.

"Remember," I said. I pushed the cap back on, climbing as fast as I could down the shrouds and ducking to the captain's quarters.

"Kaleen?"

I said nothing except placing the parchment and potion in his hands.

That's when a wash of pain overflowed me. I gasped, doubling over before collapsing into darkness.

 _It hurt to move. My eyes jolted open as my head snapped around. Breathing heavily, I stood on my feet, cringing from every muscle movement. I swallowed, looking around._

 _A man rushed past me in terror, screaming._

 _I turned to where he ran. A cloud of green smoke crawled to us slowly, painfully slow. As I looked around, it surrounded me._

 _And I was alone._

 _"Hello!" I yelled, hands cupped over my mouth. "Is anyone here!?" I kept turning in circles, gaze moving frantically. I saw a shadow, a figure step into the light. Her skin was green, hair in a bun behind her, wearing a black color._

 _"You're too late, cuz," she said. I glared at her, taking one step before the vines wrapped around my wrists and yanked me to my knees._

 _"Who are you?" I hissed, squirming. "What do you want?"_

 _She laughed. "You will figure out who I am soon, enough. Our family has its secrets doesn't it?"_

 _I yanked against the vines. I heard a crack. When my eyes darted to the sky, the cloud devoured me and I was left._

 _And I was alone._

I gasped, shooting to a sitting position and in the process of sitting back up, hit my forehead with my father's jaw. I held my head, cringing as he held his jaw, the parchment as his side. I jumped for it, grabbing it and holding it in my hand.

"Kaleen," he huffed. "What was that, lass?" I swallowed.

"I have small visions of the future," I replied, standing up quickly. "I'm pretty sure another curse is coming. I don't know how, but it would make sense." I opened the scroll, facing it to him. "This is Neil's handwriting. We need to find Emma. We need a magic bean."

"Kaleen," he said, standing up. "I know you miss Henry—"

"I am not making this up!" I exclaimed. "If you won't go, then fine! Take me back to shore and I will go myself!" He stared at me, doing nothing but rubbing his jaw. "I've been a part of your crew for almost a year and it's been the best time of my life. Why would I make this up so suddenly unless it was serious? Father, please. Take us back." He held my gaze as I begged him to go back. "They need us. They need me. I could help counteract the curse. I have light magic."

"And what will happen when you're taken with it?" He asked. I crossed my arms, leaning on one leg.

"Then I will be taken with it," I replied. "But I will fight until the end." He paused, before nodding, taking the parchment to read it. His eyes glanced over the page twice before looking a the potion.

"What is that?" He asked. I glanced down at it before responding.

"It's a potion that can get her memories back," I said. I walked over to my chest, pulling out my messenger bag, the one I used when I first got here.

"Why can't you just...appear at shore?"

"Because part of that is knowing where I am. I don't know where the hell I am so, I can't," I snapped in a tone I had never used. I placed my dreamcatchers in the bag, along with the amethyst and potion. I grabbed the parchment from my father's grasp and stuffed it in too. He gripped my arm and held my dagger-eyed gaze.

"Kaleen."

"Emma needs you," was all I said before I stormed up to the deck, walking behind the sails and raising my hands. "Not fast enough." I called the wind to pushed forward.

"Kaleen! Stop!" My father ran up the steps and gripped my wrists, yanking them down. I glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I can make this bloody vessel go faster. The longer we take the less I can help," I hissed. I tried to raise my hands again, but he held them firm. "You're acting like Pan when he held me captive. Let. My. Wrists. Go." He loosened his grip, but didn't let go.

"You're my daughter," he replied, equally as threatening in his tone. I snarled, my fists tightening. I could feel a dark magic wave over me, strongly. I gasped as the pain shot through me. Cringing, I turned away. I could see the forest in the distance and a green cloud of smoke that washed over it.

I yanked my wrists away, running to the bowsprit, watching as everyone behind the port market seemed to disappear. I choked, holding my hands over my mouth in horror. I knew where I was in relative distance to the castle. As I wished to teleport, my father gripped my arm and gently pulled me away.

"Kaleen."

"Stop!" I screamed, pulling away. "Just let me go!"

"I am your father, Kaleen. You will listen—"

"No! You listen!" I exclaimed. "Just because you're related to me by blood doesn't make you my bloody father! What did you do! You didn't even know of my existence! For forty-four years! For sixteen of those I wasn't cursed and you could have returned. Why didn't you! Why!" He gripped my shoulders as I flailed.

"Listen to me, Kaleen. That is not what is important, lass," he said surprisingly calmly. "I read the parchment. We'll find Emma." Sneering, I backed away, turning back to the smoke and realizing that it was no longer there. The only thing left standing was the port and the people in it.

As soon as the boat touched the dock, I threw myself off, running in between the shops and markets, frantically searching for a merchant. I heard voices, loud and soft, frantic and calm. I heard my name a few times too.

I turned another corner, slamming into a man. His sack of good fell onto the ground, spilling onto the street.

"Im so sorry," I said, putting things back until I saw it; a magic bean. He snatched it from my hands, putting it back in his sack.

"I'll trade you," I said, standing up. "Please. My...family was taken up with the curse. I need to go after them."

"Sorry, honey, but I'm not going to just hand it over," he replied, gruff as he threw it over his shoulder. I took my necklace off, the one Blue gave me and held it out along with the amethyst that I had found on the island. He shook his head.

"I need something bigger."

"This is a gift from a fairy," I said, holding the necklace. "Please." He smirked.

"I don't make deals with little girls," he hissed, pushing me to the side. I jumped in front of him again.

"Please."

"If you won't listen to her offer than listen to mine," my father said, eying he man. He pointed to his ship. "That, mate is the Jolly Roger, the fastest ship in the sea. You want something bigger, than take it. Give us the bloody bean and the ship is your's." I gaped at my father. The man glanced back at my necklace and then the ship.

"Give me the jewels and the ship and the bean in your's."

"It's a deal," I said, lacing the jewels in his hand. He switched with me and then walked up to the ship, leaving us. The bean glowed softly in my hand I looked up at Hook, shocked.

"You traded your ship," I said, breathless. "You gave up your ship."

"You need to go back, love," he said. "So do I. The Jolly Roger holds memories, but we need to move on." I stared at him and then grinned with mischief.

"You didn't trade your ship for me," I said, smiling. "You did it for Emma." He said nothing in response. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him between the building in the dark alley. I squeezed the bean in my hand and the threw it against the ground.

"Think of Emma!" I yelled as we both jumped in and fell hard against an unknown floor.


	5. Chapter 5

"Kaleen? You alright, love?"

My gaze darted upwards, meeting his eyes. I nodded, using the wall to stand up. It was a hallway, long and in front of us, there was a door. There were many doors.

"Which door is Emma behind?" I asked, tracing the number. I closed my eyes, thinking of Henry and the necklace he has, the one I gave him, my mother's necklace. I could find them. "This way." I walked down five doors on either side before stopping, glancing at the door up and down. I touched it, putting my fingers to it and hearing voices and music.

"In there," I said.

"Mom, you forgot something."

"You're right. Cinnamon."

I heard the click of glasses just as my father banged on the door. I jumped back, glaring at him when he banged again.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Henry asked.

"No," Emma replied. Soon, she opened the door, facing my father's smile as he stared at her, looking up and down. "Swan." He took a step forward. "Emma."

She put her hand up,taking a step back. "Do I know you?"

"I need your help. Something's happened. Something terrible. Your family is in trouble."

"My family is right here," she snapped. "And you are you?"

"An old friend," my father replied. "Look, I know you can't remember me but I can make you." Suddenly, he cupped his hand behind her head and pressed a kiss on her lips. I bit my lip, knowing it wouldn't work because...she wasn't cursed.

She kneed him in the groin and pushed him back. Grunting, he stumbled backwards, almost hitting me.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Emma asked, meeting my gaze before returning to my father. "And why the hell did you bring a kid?"

"It was worth a shot. I had to try," he replied, leaning against the wall in agony.

"What?"

"I was hoping you felt as I did," he said.

"The only thing you're going to feel is the handcuffs when I call the cops and CPS," she hissed starting to close the door.

"Emma, please listen," I said.

My father took a step forward, holding his hands out, the hook hidden behind him.

"Look, I know this seems crazy, but you have to listen to me. You have to reme—" she closed the door on his face, cutting him off. Sighing, he leaned his head against the door.

"You could have just made her drink the potion," I said in the silence, pulling it out of my bag. He glanced up, moaning.

"Could have, love," he replied, stepping away from the door. I smirked.

"Also, father, she's not under a curse, just a spell. That's different. It wouldn't have worked even if she did feel the same," I sighed. "And she doesn't remember."

He nodded, sighing in disappointment.

"We can come back," I said. "She has a date tonight." He stared at me in shock.

"How did you know that, lass?" He asked. I smirked.

"Magic is tedious. It's at eight," I said. "And I know where."

We wondered the city the rest of the day, looking and sightseeing. It was busy and we received sideways glanced from our clothing. We sat on a bench in Central Park. I played with my fingers, watching as the magic danced through my fingers. It wasn't as strong here. I had trouble creating any spark at all. I let my hands rest as I leaned back into the bench, watching as my father wandered through the trees on his own.

It was a good thirty minutes before I felt him sit down back beside me. I was tracing the dreamcatcher that was my mother's. "I was thinking you wouldn't come back," I said, smirking. As I looked up, I met the eye of a boy, maybe a year older than me with a grin on his face and an arm over my shoulder.

I scrambled off the bench, pushing him off. "What is wrong with you?" I hissed. He chuckled.

"Sexy accent, Brit," he said, standing up. I never noticed how strong my accent got. I wondered what Emma would think when she remembered.

"I'm not sure to take that as a compliment," I replied, stuffing the dreamcatcher back in my bag. The boy had blonde hair and brown eyes, a sharp nose.

"How old are you?" He asked. I swallowed. You mean physically or mentally? It had been a few months since my last birthday, the day I got to be in charge of the crew for a day.

"Seventeen. Why do you care?" I asked. I'm really forty-five. I doubt you'd believe me.

"You waiting for someone?" He asked. I gripped my arm.

"Aye," I said, swallowing when I said it. He chuckled again, much like Pan did. His lips twisted into a grin. I snarled, taking another step back.

"Your name?" He asked.

"Not saying," I snapped. "Not until you say first." I'm not saying mine anyway.

"Peter," he said. How convenient. I took another step back.

"Kaleen!" My father ran over, stepping between us. He walked up to the boy, snarling in fury. "You lay a finger of her, boy and your body will be thrown in the sea." I held in a smirk. My father was finally accepting me as his daughter.

The boy, whose name was Peter smirked, holding his hands up in mock surrender, blowing me a kiss before stalking off.

"God, I hate boys like that," I said, stepping forward. "You'll never guess his name." He raised an eyebrow.

"Aye?"

"It was Peter," I said. He snarled.

"He even acts like the bloody demon," he said, stuffing his hand behind him, or his hook.

"The dead bloody demon," I added, stepping forward. "Let's go make Emma remember."

I waited outside the restaurant as my father walked inside. I gave him the address of Neal's apartment if she asked. I held onto his hook in my bag along with a few other things he brought in his own bag.

I waited in the alley next to the building, gasping when I was yanked backwards. My yelp was muffled by a hand. My eyes darted upwards, meeting the gaze of the boy I met earlier.

"You are Kaleen," he hissed. I struggled, but he held against the wall, forcefully and hard. "Zelena will be pleased I found you." I finally managed to scream, but he muffled me again. "She said you would be powerless without you magic and she was right. You're nothing but a helpless little girl." I kicked him in the groin, pushing him off as I backed away, fists up.

"Who sent you?" I asked as a threat. "And by the way, I am not powerless without magic." During the curse, my character was similar. I did yoga and martial arts. I was as flexible as a rubber band. I still was. I had kept it up during the year. I had strength as well.

"Your cousin," he moaned, willing to face me, snarling. "If you don't come willingly I will be forced to use other methods."

"I'm not afraid of you," was my response. He lunged forward, gripping my arm. I yanked backwards, elbowing his side. Scrambling, I pulled away from him, farther into the alleyway. "I don't have any cousins."

He didn't respond. All I saw was his shadow, a figure rising behind him, a pair of wings. The shape of him changed to a creature, a monkey with wings raised and ready. The fangs were gleaming white. It screeched and flew at me, digging its talons in my side and pinning me against the wall. It slowly seemed to rise, pulling me off the ground. Blood stained my shirt. Gasping, I yanked out my dagger and thrust it into its chest. It screamed again, dropping me. Clutching my sides, I watched as it fell, hitting the garbage bins with a crash and then, faded away.

As if it wasn't there.

I picked up my dagger and slid it back into its case. The only thing left was the leather jacket the boy wore when he was a boy and not a flying monkey.

Like the one from my vision a year ago.

I ripped the bottom of my shirt off, my mother's shirt and wrapped it tightly around my wounds. I grabbed the jacket and threw it on, zipping it up. It was a perfect fit.

"Kaleen?"

I turned around. I walked into the light, meeting my father's gaze. Moaning, I smiled.

"Did she believe you?" I asked, grunting. He shook his head.

"I gave her the address like you said, lass. She didn't idly listen," he sighed, noicing my hands, which I hadn't stuffed into my pockets. "You're bleeding."

"Not here," I said, stuffing my hands out of view. "Come to the park. We'll be hidden." He smirked.

"That's where I said for her to meet me," he said. "I gave her the pictures as well. Glad you kept them, Kaleen." I smirked as we turned and walked back to the park.

I sat down, leaning back against a tree, moaning in pain, hidden away from view. I took my jacket of, exposing my wounds to him, cringing when he touched them. I explained what had happened and I doubted he believed me.

He pulled out his bag that was in mine and pulled a cloth, long and thick. He wrapped in around my twice and them tying it. I thanked him, for my shirt looked half-soaked in blood. I leaned my head against the tree, closing my eyes, my bag filled with everything but the potion. He held onto that.

I sat up from my position on the bench, moaning and turning to my father, who stood and paced back and forth. "What's wrong?"

"She hasn't showed," he replied.

"Emma?"

He nodded, looking up and around. "Are you alright? Bandaged alright?" I nodded, breathing again.

"I'm fine."

Suddenly, Emma appeared, walking to him with a stern look on her face. "Swan," he said, taking a step forward. "It worked. It's good to see you again."

"Why didn't you tell me that was Neal's place?" She hissed, glancing at me before holding onto his gaze.

"I think the tone of your voice answers that quite clearly," he said, adjusting his weight. "You never would have gone if I had."

"What does Neal have you up to? Is he trying to get into Henry's life? How does he even know about him?" Her voice raised with every word.

"I already told you I'm not here because of Neal," he said. Neal sent us the news. That's not completely true. "I'm here because your parents are in trouble. There entire kingdom have been cursed. Ripped back to StoryBrooke."

"What! Are you talking about! My parents? A kingdom cursed? Do you know what you sound like?"

"Like a madman I'm sure, but it's true. Your parents need you. You're the only one who could save them. If you didn't believe me then why did you come here?"

"Because Neal has a camera with my son's name on it," she hissed, revealing the strap connected to a camera in her bag. "How?"

"You see that is proof of what I'm saying. Henry must have left that in the apartment when you were in New York last time."

"That's not good enough. I want answers. Real ones."

He bit his lip, looking down and pulling out the potion. "The only way you'll get that is if you…" he held it up to her face. "Drink this."

"Drink the thing the crazy guy just offered me? No thank you."

"It will help you remember everything you've lost," he continued. "If one small part of you senses I'm right, don't you owe it to yourself to find out if I'm right?" He paused, a smile creeping up his face. "What do you say, love?" He looked down and up again. "Take a leap of faith. Give it a go."

She held his gaze, glancing down at it before suddenly cuffing one of his wrist with hand cuffs. "Call me love one more time and you lose the other hand."

"Swan what are you doing?"

"Making sure you never bother my son and me again," she stepped back after cuffing him to the bench railing. I frantically tried to pull it loose, but with no magic, I could do squat. She whistled and pulled be off the bench, not meeting my eye. "This is the guy. The one who assaulted me." She gripped my wrist firm as I tried to yank away and she stepped back.

"It was a kiss."

"There," she smirked. "He confessed." She glanced down at me. "Come on kid. You're staying with me until we can find your mother." She stepped back and turned away.

"You're under arrest for assault and criminal harassment sir," one officer said.

My father spoke on top of the men. "Swan, please. You're making a mistake. A terrible terrible mistake." She completely turned away and dragged me away with her. I stumbled on my own feet as I heard my father yell.

"Swan!" He yelled. "You're family needs you!"

As I met his eyes, I knew it was up to me.


	6. Chapter 6

I sat in silence, staring at her as she drove. She said nothing as well. Swallowing, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and bit my lip. I took another deep breath, soon realizing my sides ache when I moved.

"Most teens are not this quiet," she smirked. "You're like me, kid." I said nothing in return, knowing I could relate to Emma a lot. Our magic is light. That was something.

"Why am I going home with you?" I asked quietly. She shrugged.

"I was in the system for a long time. It was not the place I wanted to be," she replied. Soon, we parked and got out of the car. I stared at her in silence, my eyes meeting her's only for a split second before finding the assfault.

I said nothing when she stood in the elevator and when she opened the door to her apartment and then closed it behind me, I paused.

"What will you tell Henry?" I asked. "About why I'm here."

"You're part of a case," she replied. "Which isn't a lie." She glanced down. "You can take off your jacket you know." I bit my lip. Expose my bloody rags? I don't think so.

"I'm fine," I replied. She raised an eyebrow.

"You seem to have it very tightly around yourself."

"I'm cold."

"That's a lie," she snapped back. I swallowed. Damn it I almost forgot about her superpower. I didn't respond. "Take it off." I shook my head, taking a step back. "You're hiding something." I scoffed.

"No, I'm not."

"Don't argue with me," she snapped. "Take it off now." That's when I noticed that we were about the same height. It hadn't occurred to me before. I must have grown in the past year. Taking a sharp breath, I unzipped my jacket that used to be the flying monkey's jacket and let it fall to my feet.

Her eyes darted to the bandages, soon widening in horror. "Why didn't you get the police sooner?" She exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You could have reported your father's abuse!" She yelled, making me lie on the floor as she opened a first aid kit.

"You think Killian did this?" I questioned. She kneeled down and started to take them off. I gripped her wrist. "Emma, I'm fine."

"You're bleeding," she replied. "Let me look at it."

"Before you do, Emma, my father did not do this," I said. She didn't seem to hear me as she unwrapped them, exposing my stomach to her and the stab wounds on my sides, three on each, deep and still bleeding a little.

"He had a hook," Emma said. "I saw it. Why did he do this to you?"

"God! Emma I already said he didn't!" I hissed, trying to sit back up.

"Then who did it?" She snapped. "These look like you were stabbed with a claw and the closest thing is your father's hook." My chest tightened.

"Please, believe me, Emma," I begged, feeling tears come up. I hadn't cried in almost a year, when I said goodbye was the last time I cried. "He didn't do this. He wouldn't hurt me."

"You don't have to fear him anymore. A madman and a psycho," she said, mumbling the second sentence.

"I'm not afraid of him, Emma!" I screamed. "Use your superpower, Emma. Know I'm not lying." She met my gaze, studying my features before sighing.

"I believe you," she mumbled. "Let me put something on then and then get you dressed." I glared at her.

"I am dressed."

"You need real clothes," she continued, putting some sort of ointment on them. I cringed. "Then we can get you stitches." I took another breath as she wrapped a more comfortable bandage around my sides, throwing the rest in the trash.

"You're a mess," she continued. "Why don't you shower up. I'll let you borrow some of my clothes. We seem the same size." I eyed her.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked as she showed me to the restroom. She smirked.

"I know what it's like to be unsure of your future. Plus," she leaned in from behind the door. "You seem familiar." She closed the door behind her.

In silence, I undressed and got in the shower. I hadn't been in a shower for almost a year. There were other ways to bathe, but there wasn't this. I actually missed it.

I let the water warm me, run down my back. It burned when it seeped into the bandages. It was a quick shower, washing my hair and body. When I stepped out, a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, peach colored shirt. It was a turtleneck, but it wasn't skin-tight, loose and was positioned against the shirt a little. I put on the skinny jeans, zipping up my brown-leather boots I had brought.

I threw my jacket on over the shirt, walking out of the room.

She had spread out all the contents of my bag out on her island counter.

"What are these?" She hissed, holding up the envelope, the one she gave me before the curse came. She seemed to had stuffed my mother's outfit in my messenger bag.

"They're photos," I replied. She narrowed her eyes.

"How did you do these?" She asked. "We never lived in a town called Storybrooke. We never took a flight from Boston." I shook my head.

"Yes you did."

"So you and your father are crazy," she replied. I sighed. I sat down at one of the chairs around the counter.

"Ask me anything," I said. "Anything about you or Henry." She glared at me.

"Fine," she set down the photos. "What's my son's favorite drink."

"Hot Chocolate with cinnamon," I replied. She held my gaze as I rolled my eyes again. "This can all be explained, Emma. You have to trust me. If you won't trust my father, then trust me. I have a vow to protect your son. I protected you from the Evil Queen when you were born."

"You seem a little young to do that," she hissed.

"I'm older than I look," I said. I placed my hand on her own. "Why not take a chance? With your family?" She held my eye before breaking it and pulling her hand away.

"Why do you feel so familiar?" She asked, mostly to herself.

"Bail my father out and everything will make sense," I said gently. "You have my word."

My father adjusted the fake hand on his wrist, looking up and around before Emma yelled. "Hey! We need to talk." He chuckled, walking down the steps.

"Swan," he said. "I knew you wouldn't let me rot in that cage. I've been in my fair share of brings but not as barbarack as that. They force-fed me something called baloney." I held in a laugh, allowing some chuckles to escape my lips. He glanced at me. "Kaleen."

"What the hell are these?" She thrusted a picture at him. "Your daughter wouldn't tell me and said you would. We never lived in a town called Storybrooke. We never took a flight from Boston to New York we never did any of this."

"So you believe me?" He asked.

"I don't know. You could have photoshopped these pictures."

"Photoshopped?" He asked.

"Faked," Emma and I said at once.

"If you think these are fake then why did you suspend me from the brig?" He asked, motioning to the jail he was just bailed out of.

"It's a jail, Dad," I said under my breath. He didn't hear me and neither did Emma.

"Because as much as you deny it, deep down you know something's wrong. Deep down you know I'm right," he continued.

"That's not possible. How could I have forget all of this?" She questioned.

"I promise you, there is an explanation," he replied.

"Not one that make sense," she fired. He didn't reply at once. He suck his hand in a pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out the potion.

"If you drink this, it will," he said. She stared at it, but said nothing.

"It will help you remember," I said. She sighed, taking in a deep breath before speaking again.

"If—if—what you're saying is true…" she took another breath. "I would have to give up my life here."

"It's all based on lies."

"It's real and it's pretty good," Emma held his gaze. "I have Henry a job a guy I love." My father closed his eyes for a moment of disappointment before smiling and looking back up.

"Perhaps there's another you love who you've lost," he said gently. "Regardless, if you want to find the truth, drink up. Do you really want to live a life of lies?" He looked around. "You know this isn't right. Trust your gut, Swan. It will tell you what to do." I paused, knowing who those words came from.

"Henry always says that."

"Well, then if you won't listen to me or listen to my daughter than listen to your boy," he replied. She held his gaze for a few strong moments before glancing down at the bottle. She took it out of his hands, opened it, glanced at my father again and then drank it.

Her eyes twitched when she closed them, taking a small step back. I could feel magic radiate off her before her eyes snapped open.

Her next words were a breath of realization. "Hook." She glanced at me. "Kaleen?"

"Did you miss me?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Back at her apartment, we sat as she paced and spoke to air and us occasionally.

"This may not be real," she said. "But he is. And so were the eight months we spent together." She was talking about the guy she was with, whose name was Walsh. She sighed. "I owe him an explanation."

She began to walk out of the room.

"Emma, you can't tell him," I started. My father continued.

"What are you going to say to him?" My father asked. She sighed again, turning back to us.

"I...I don't know," she breathed. "But I care too much to drag him into all this." She eyed my father. "Wait here." She walked off and out of the room. It wasn't even two seconds before my father grabbed the bottle off the counter and poured it into his cup.

It didn't take long before I felt something. I felt a wave of dark magic spread from the rooftop. I shot up from my seat.

"Kaleen?"

"Emma's in trouble," I said frantically. We ran out the door, up the stairs. I threw the door open to the roof.

"Emma! Are you alright?"

She whipped around.

"Swan? What the blazes was that?" My father ran forward as she turned to face us, sighing, as if she fought...a demon.

"A monkey," I mumbled. "The same kind that attacked me."

"A reminder," Emma replied. "That I was never safe. I wanted...what I thought I could have was not in the cards for the Savior. We leave in the morning."

We stayed at Neal's place, waking up early in the morning to go to Emma's. Killian knocked on the door.

"Are you expecting someone?" Henry asked. I heard a sigh from behind to door.

"Yeah," Emma replied. She soon opened the door and my father took his weight off the wall and strolled in. I followed behind, still wearing the same clothes Emma had let me borrow the day before.

"You ready, Swan?" He asked, smirking. I closed the door as she rushed to my father, who looked like he owned the place. I followed behind.

"Henry," Emma said. "This is Killian and his daughter, Kaleen." I stood at his side and smiled.

That's when it hit me.

Henry seemed to look right through me, even though I had partly helped raise him.

My chest twisted in sorrow.

"I'm helping him with his case," Emma said. She struggled to finish her lie. Henry looked at him up and down.

"Did you skip bail?"

Killian motioned his hand to Henry. "Well, he's still a little spitfire."

"Still?"

"He's not a perp. He's a client," Emma said.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Henry asked, eyebrows raised and confused.

"Why are you dressed like that?" My father remarked, tone raised in annoyance.

"Alright, Alright. Just make yourself useful, Killian and help get are bags. Kaleen help Henry get his things," Emma said, stalking off to her room.

"Wait, we're really going?" Henry asked as Killian and I leaned down to pick up the luggage.

"Yes." Emma handed Henry his coat. "I just need one last thing."

The drive was long. I dozed off once for an hour before being jolted awake again by a bump in the road.

"Do you do any sports?" Henry asked. Blinking slowly, I turned my dead to face him. I nodded. "Which one?"

"Fencing," I said in a yawn. "And yoga."

"Fencing?" He asked. I nodded again.

After a while, he fell asleep and I watched as we crossed the town line. I could feel my magic return. The first thing I did was heal my sides, the pain disappearing. I took a sharp breath as we parked. I got out of the car, allowing Henry to sleep against the door, so innocent and quiet.

The town looked dark and quiet.

"It's really back," Emma breathed looking around. I followed my dad around the car as he stood at her left side. "I'm really back."

"Isn't quite as homey as you remember?" He asked. I rolled my eyes, walking into the street as I marveled the buildings. Everything was back. The streets looked the same, the way the clock tower glared down was the same.

It was like I never left.

"It's as cursed as I remember," Emma replied, staring at the dinner, the one place I had called home for almost thirty years. I glanced back, noticing my father replace his fake hand with his hook, grinning.

"That's more like it. Isn't it, Swan?" He chuckled, smirking and grinning all at once. I could see why my mother fell in love with him. He was charming.

He was also my father.

"How are you going to explain that to him?" Emma remarked.

He glanced at the sleeping boy. "Well, it's more of your concern. Perhaps it will jog his memory."

"Or give him nightmares," Emma replied.

"That's more likely to happen," I mumbled under my breath, not really being a part of the conversation.

Emma sighed. "Last time this curse took away everyone's memories. This time?"

I turned around, shaking my head as my father did the same. "We don't know what it did. All we knew is that we needed to get to you and get you here," I said, walking back to them with my hands in my pockets.

"Then I'll find out," she huffed, starting to walk away. "Kaleen, come with me. You can tell me if there some sort of magic hoo ha on them." She turned to my father. "Stay here and watch Henry. Don't wake him or scare him—just let him sleep."

"Where are you going?" He asked. I started down the street with Emma Ashe she continued speaking.

"To talk to my parents," she said as we walked to where they lived before the curse washed over us and took us to the Enchanted Forest.

We walked up the steps and she knocked on the door. "If anything happens, Kaleen, just be ready." I nodded, but feeling no presence of dark magic besides the town.

The door opened and David stared, soon taking a step back in shock, his hand on his forehead.

"Hi," Emma held her hands up. "Don't close the door. This is Kaleen and I'm—"

"Emma," David said in a gasp of shock. They walked forward and embraced. I smiled. "You remember."

"You remember," she said in relief.

"Of course," he said, head shaking is disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Kaleen and Hook found me. They brought me back. They said you were cursed," Emma said. David pulled her in the room. I walked in and closed the door behind me.

"We're back or...we never left or...well, we don't know," he breathed. He glanced at me and then hugged me before turning back to Emma. "We're trapped again. Emma, this curse. We don't know who did it or why. All we know is that our last year has been wiped away."

"Wiped away?"

"All we remember is saying goodbye to you," he replied. "It feels like yesterday."

"If you can't remember, then how do you know it's been a year?" Emma asked. I waited for a response until I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Emma?" Snow asked in shock. "Kaleen?" Snow embraced her daughter and soon let go in shock and gratitude. She hugged me too.

"As you can see," David said. "A lot's happened." That's when I noticed that Snow was pregnant.

"We just don't know what," Snow replied. "The whole years is gone."

"Who the hell would have done this?"


	7. Chapter 7

I walked with Snow and David to Granny's. They had let us sleep there for the night and even though it was on the floor, it was still warm and sweet.

"When we came back from the curse," Snow said. "We went to find Blue." I nodded while listening. "But she was more concerned about finding you and when we couldn't find you...we thought something had happened. That you had died."

"I damn right didn't die," I replied, stopping for a moment to face her. "I have my last year of memories, but none of which that could really help. I only went with my father shortly after we went back."

"You became a pirate," David smirked. "I can't really see that in you. Especially after being raised by a fairy."

"Everyone has sides of themselves they don't realize are there," I said. "The one thing I really noticed that changed is how I speak."

"The accent is like Hook's," David replied as we turned to walk into the dinner.

"What do you remember?" Snow asked. "Anything at all?" I shook my head.

"I remember the last year, yes but it's not very helpful, since I was far away from the conflict," I paused. "I wish I hadn't listen."

"What?" Snow asked. I bit my lip.

"For my protection and your everyone else's, Blue sent me to my father, to be away from magic until…" I swallowed. "...my visions could be controlled." Snow gaped at me.

"You can see the future?"

"A little, yes, but it's not very straight forward," I replied. "I can thrash out, sleep walk. When I was seven I almost ripped out Blue's heart." I took a deep breath. "I guess if you needed them, I could help with that."

We walked into the dinner, turning to the table at which Henry sat, smiling.

"Henry, this is David and Mary Margret and you've met Kaleen," Emma said, standing up from her seat.

"Are you helping my mom with her case?" Henry asked. I could see the color drain from their faces as Henry looked straight through them, and through me. "Or are they the ones who jumped bail?" He whispered.

"No," Emma replied. "They are...they're just, old friends."

"Friends? From where?"

"Phoenix."

"Here."

Emma and Snow spoke over one another.

"Well, Phoenix, then here," Emma said as Henry's eyes darted between them in confusion.

"I thought you were only in Phoenix for cr...being in that place," Henry replied, leaving out the part for what the place was and why she was there.

"Right," Snow said suddenly. "We are cellmates."

"Really?" Henry asked excitedly. "What were you in for?" She paused.

"Badetry," she stumbled over the word.

"I don't think that's a word," I whispered, but no one heard me, besides Snow, who kept her gaze on her grandson. After a moment of silence, Snow, David, Emma and I sat down at the table, me at the end farthest from the wall.

"People make mistakes," Snow said. "The important thing is to find a way to keep moving on."

"Did you know my dad?" Henry asked.

"Should we order?" David interrupted. "Let's order." He raised his hand to Ruby to order.

The sudden shatter of a plate made us all jump. Regina stood, a mouth open in shock as she stared at her son, who stared back as if he didn't know her. Just like he did to me.

It took a moment to regain her voice. "Oh-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh," Henry said. "T-that's okay." Emma stood up and pulled Regina to the side, saying nothing to Henry as he met my gaze with curiosity.

"You name is Kaleen, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

He shrugged. "I've just never heard that name before. It's cool. It sounds like a fairy name." I raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded.

"Like in the stories about fairies. It just sounds like a fairy name." I smiled, smirking. "And you do fencing?"

"Yeah," I pressed out. "I do."

"Really?" David asked, facing me. "When did you start?"

"Last year," I replied. David chuckled.

"You'll have to duel me sometime," he said. I smirked.

"Maybe, so."

As we all clustered around in town hall, all I could hear was bickering. I stood in the front with Emma as she frantically put her hands up in an attempt to keep order.

"Everyone!" She said loudly. "Everyone, I know you're rightly confused but I need you to listen."

"Is it true? Is—is there some kind of monster keeping us from leaving town?" Archie asked. It was strange to see him in the form of a human again, since he was a cricket the last time I saw him.

"Is that what happened to my brothers?" Leroy added in a tone of realization and determination.

"Yes," Emma replied. "We believe people are being abducted when they try to cross the town line."

"So we're trapped here?" Granny followed up, annoyed. She was still the same, stern, strong woman I had remembered her to be. "Again."

"It's different from last time," Emma said. I nodded.

"There is no barrier of magic," I added. "People just go missing. It doesn't mean they're dead, but just missing."

"Last time we lost our memories," Leroy snapped. "This time we get dragged into the woods." He thrusted his thumb to said woods. I bit my lip, nodding.

"That's correct," I replied. He glared at me.

"Do you know who cursed us?" Belle asked, standing up. "Why they want us here?"

"We're working on it," Emma said, glancing at me. "Kaleen and sense magic. She can help. Plus, it's kind of hard to figure out who casted the curse if no one remembers the last year."

"Who?" Leroy asked, standing up. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Do you remember something?" Emma asked.

"Who cast the last curse?" He questioned, even though we all knew the answer. "Who knows how to use it? Who's the only one who ever did anything like this before! The Evil Queen!" He stabbed his pointer finger at Regina, who stood in the back. Everyone turned to her as people began to agree and nod.

She shook her head. "For once, I'm just as clueless as the rest of you," she defended herself in an annoyed tone, even though everyone had the right to believe it was her.

"You expect us to believe that?"

"It's the truth," she snapped.

"This curse has your fingerprints all over it," Granny hissed.

"And you did take our memories once before," Belle added. My gaze narrowed at Regina.

"You still have your big house," Granny said.

"You think I care about my house?" Regina snapped, stepping forward with fury lacing her every word. "About my job or any of these things?"

"Please, just tell us the truth," Archie said. "We'll understand."

"I am telling the truth," Regina hissed. "If I had done this there would be one thing I would have right now. My son."

"You're not getting anywhere near him until I get to the bottom of what's going on here," Emma replied to Regina's lash. Emma stepped forward.

"So now you're siding with the rable?" Regina asked. When Emma didn't respond, Regina continued. "I thought we had been through this. I'm innocent." People began to stand up against her.

"Yes, that's what you said before, but now I'm having second thoughts," Emma remarked.

"Don't come any closer," Regina warned, hands out in front of her. I could feel her magic pulsating.

"Regina—"

"Do you remember who you're dealing with?" Regina hissed, taking one small step back. "If you all want me to be the Evil Queen, then fine. That's exactly who you'll get." She shot her hands out in front of her. With a rush of energy, the ground shook and she puffed away in a cloud of purple smoke.

"I knew it was her!" Leroy exclaimed, pointing.

That's when I too vanished in a puff of smoke.

I climbed out of David's truck along with my father. Robin Hood and his men seemed wildly concerned and desperate.

"This is where he was taken," Robin said, breathless.

"I wouldn't step over that line if I were you," Emma said rushing to where he stood, hands in front of her.

"You think little John was carried away because he attempted to cross that line?" Hood asked.

"It makes sense," David said. "The dwarfs were out checking the line to see if anyone was coming or going when they disappeared." He paused, his attention turning to Hood. "What exactly took Little John?"

"We didn't get a good look. A manner of beast with wings," he replied. I sucked in a sharp breath.

"Just like the one that attacked me in the alleyway," I said, glancing at Emma as she recalled her attack.

"Like the monster that attacked me in New York," Emma said.

"Like the monster you were going to marry," Hook added. David's gaze turned to his daughters.

"You were going to marry someone?" David asked.

"Did you just miss the part where I said monster," my father finished.

"We need to find Little John," Hood said, stepping closer.

"It could lead us to everyone else who's gone missing. David, take Hood and his—"

"Merry Men."

"Right and run a search grid to find any sign of our missing guy," Emma finished. "Kaleen stay to help locate him with your magic."

"Are you not joining us Swan?" My father asked.

"Not yet. Regina was right. I'm not going to figure out who is behind this curse by talking to people one by one."

"What are you going to do?" David asked.

"I'm going to talk to everybody," Emma replied, walking back to her car and driving off.

-Then-

With a hood over my head, I walked silently through the village. Only twelve, I couldn't teleport anywhere. I didn't have wings, so I couldn't fly, but I had control over my magic, unlike previous years when my visions were so strong they would bleed into reality.

I stepped over a log and entered the woods, soon, in the center, sitting down in the clearing and crossed my legs. I breathed slowly, closing my eyes as things seemed to slow around me. I allowed myself to relax, letting the magic that surged through me to branch out underground, to feel everything living around me, from the smallest insect to the tallest tree.

It had taken years for me to control my visions. At seven they finally seemed to present a true problem. It was only when I turned eleven years old that I could calm my magic. When the curse was broken again, I had to regain my control, which I had almost mastered. That's why Blue sent me away from the threat. The older I was, the stronger my magic became. The visions could have gotten worse if she hadn't.

I opened my eyes, slowly, realizing that was slightly levitating off the ground. Gasping, I shot to my feet, looking down as if the floor could give me answers.

"Are you a witch?"

I whipped around, meeting the gaze of a man that leaned on a tree, eyeing me with interest, desperation. He had a bow slinged behind his back with arrows. He wore green and leather boots. A thief no doubt. He took his weight off the tree and took a step forward. I stumbled backwards, holding my hands up in front of me. He froze as sparks dance between my palms.

"Please don't come any closer," I said, taking another step backwards.

"Can you heal?" He asked. I nodded.

"I can," I replied. "Why do you ask?" He yanked his bow of him and aimed an arrow. I gasped, holding my hands up. "Don't."

He suddenly let it fly. It missed my ear by a slip of air, nailing the tree behind me. Before I could even turn back around, a sack was shoved over my head. I screamed, scrambling to find his hands, his gloved hands. "Let go!"

Everything submerged into darkness.

-Now-

"Over here!" I yelled, kneeling down to a trail of blood that led deeper in the woods, my chest tightening from the sight.

Hood ran over, glancing at it only for a moment. "He was dragged! He's there!" Robin took off, kneeling next to the body I didn't see. I rushed to his side, finding a large fang mark in his neck.

"Is he alive?" Hook questioned. I glanced at him and nodded.

"Barely. John, I'm here. I've got you," Robin said comfortingly, shaking his friend before he saw the bite mark on his neck. He glanced at me. "Can you?"

I nodded, scooting forward as my father said he had never seen a mark like that. Cupping the wound with my hand, I made magic flow through and out, into the bite mark. I wasn't the best healer, but could do it well given patients and time. But instead of slowly improve, it seemed to worsen. I pulled my hand away as it was covered in blood.

"It's not working," I breathed in shock. "Why is it not working?" I clutched my wrist, as if it would help.

"Okay, help me get him up," Robin said. David and the other Merry Men helped lift the dead, deathly still man up and load him up in the car.

-Then-

I jolted to my senses, panting. It wasn't very pleasant to find myself tied to a tree and the man aiming his arrow at my chest. "You know these bonds are useless," I said. He smirked-slightly.

"This arrow isn't," he replied sharply. "It never misses." I held his gaze for a moment before he lowered it and stared me directly in the eye. "You would have disappeared if you could." He grinned. "You can't can you?"

"I will be able to soon," I hissed. "Besides, I need to know your name before I report you."

"Hood," he replied. "Robin Hood." I smirked.

"So why do you want me here, Mr. Hood?" I asked, noticing all the small campfires and tents. There were other men who either eyed me or ate food.

"You have magic," he said. "I need your help."

"Why didn't you just ask me before your stuffed a sack over my head?" I snapped, glaring. His gaze met the floor. I waved my hand and the ropes fell off of me. He aimed his bow as I stood to my feet. "You don't want me to steal anything do you?"

"No," he replied. "I couldn't afford you to say no."

"Helping people is what I'm being trained to do, Mr. Hood," I said. "You can put that down. I won't hurt you." He held my blue-eyed gaze before he lowered the bow. "What do you want me to do?"

"It's just Robin," he replied as he directed me to a tent. There was a woman, standing over a little boy, who by the looks of it, was dying of illness. I kneeled down, gripping onto his arm as I stared into his weak eyes. "Can you heal him?"

I nodded, closing my eyes. I pushed magic into the boy and only after a few moments, he took a deep breath. Robin immediately picked up his son and held him in his arms, the woman doing the same.

"I'm in your debt," he said. Tears stung his eyes. "Thank you."

I nodded, standing up. "You're welcome Mr. Hood."

—Now—

We rushed down the hall, Little John's hair spread out on the rolling stretcher above him as the doctor, who was once known as Dr. Frankenstein, held a cloth of white over the bite mark.

The nurse yelled something with a bunch of medical language I didn't understand as Dr. Frankenstein turned to Robin.

"What did this to him?" He asked.

"We don't know," David replied, rushing forward. I grabbed one of the white towels off the rack and wiped my bloody hand off.

John suddenly began to shake, seizing motion, uncontrollable.

"He's going into shock," the nurse said frantically as they held his failing body down.

"We need to sedate him," Frankenstein said. I didn't pick up what he said after that, only staring at little John as he shook violently. Before the doctor could sedate him, John screamed and a tail, long and monkey-like shot out from behind him, snapping and throwing one of the men holding him down off. His screamed turned into an animal-like screech.

"John!" Robin yelled over the man's suffering.

When David and I tried to hold him down, the tail was so strong, it threw us backward, hitting against the wall and moaning in pain. Before I could stand again, Robin stumbled into me as he attempted to hold down his friend as well.

"Bloody hell!" My father exclaimed as the finally doctor was thrown off. We slowly stood, staring at what John became.

A monkey, with wings and long fangs and talons that screeched.

"Okay," David said. "I didn't see that coming."

It screeched, loud and piercing before it suddenly lunged, seizing my ankles and literally dragging me across the floor to the window. My father gripped onto my hand as it attempted to fly me through a smashed window. Robin grabbed my other.

"Don't let go!" My father yelled. I held tightly until the monkey smashed its tail against their faces and I was yanked out the window and into the air.


	8. Chapter 8

I have to apologize. The program won't let me select certain parts to italicize it. I'm sorry if that makes it confusing! I'm also sorry it's been a long time since I've posted.

—

"Little John, let go!" I swung back and forth as he carried me. "I don't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." Using my core, I grabbed his wings. Screeching in my ear, he attempted to bite me. I ducked, shooting a wave of magic out of my hands. Screeching again, he dropped me, and before I could do anything, I smashed into the windshield of a car. A cracking noise traveled all the way up my arm to my fingers.

I screamed, clutching my shattered arm. Slowly, but surely, I healed my arm and slid off the now shattered windshield. I pulled out the glass that I could see that was stuck in my arms and legs.

"Kaleen!"

I whipped around, cringing when the glass shifted too. My father ran over, embracing me tightly. "Don't do that."

"It wasn't really my choice," I said, the air squeezed out of me from a death grip. He looked at me up and down, noticing the patches of blood. "I guess I'll have to tell Emma what happened to her clothes." He smirked, removing a piece of glass from my shoulder.

"Should be the last of it, love," he said.

—

I opened the door to my old room. The bed was made just like I left it, my closet door open, my drawers still empty. In the closet, I found my skinny blue jeans and a red sweater, warm and comfortable. I changed and folded the bloody clothes, setting them down on my dresser. I zipped my boots back up and breathed a sigh, my gaze staring out the window.

There was a knock on the door. My father peeked in, meeting my eye.

"You can stay here," I said, gesturing to the room. "We could ask for a mattress. Since we don't have the Jolly Roger anymore…" I swallowed. "I still can't believe you did that."

We walked in and closed the door behind him. I crossed my arms, my weight on one foot.

"I did it for you," he replied. I shook my head.

"No you didn't," I said. "You did it for Emma."

—

It wasn't long before we met Emma and Mary Margaret as David explained that Little John had turned into a flying monkey.

"They're being turned into flying monkeys?!" Snow hissed in shock. She glanced at me. "And it took you?"

"I'm fine, Snow," I replied. "I swear. It didn't bite me."

"Yes. John took on a simian form with the added bonus of wings," Hook added, gripping my shoulder. Emma hadn't asked about the sudden change of clothes.

"Do you think that's what happened to the missing dwarves too?" Snow asked. I bit my lip and said nothing

"It would explain why we haven't found any trace of them," David replied, a expression of guilt twisted up in his face.

"And Neal?"

"No sign of him either so...yeah. It's possible," David didn't make eye contact with his daughter when he spoke.

"It wouldn't be the first flying monkey I've dated," Emma puffed.

"The person who escaped our trap disappeared in a puff of green smoke and now there are flying monkeys in this town."

"Was the trap sealed with blood magic?" I asked Regina. She nodded.

"Then how-"

"I don't know," she replied hoarsely.

Emma thought in silence. "The only person that I can think of that does that is the Wicked Witch of the west." She began to laugh. "She's real too?"

"Says that daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming," my father mocked, although he looked more concerned than cocky at this point. I was almost kidnapped by a flying monkey.

"I don't get it. It's not like we're in Kansas," Emma said, glancing between all of us. "Why would the Wicked Witch of the west want to come to Storybrooke?"

"So, now that we know who we're dealing with, how do we find this Wicked Witch?" David asked, leaning against the counter.

"Might I suggest we start by asking if anyone's seen a woman with green skin running around?" My father asked, smirking. I sent him a playful glare, wanting to throw a pillow at his face.

"We're cursed in Storybrooke," Regina snapped. "She'll look like any of us."

"Then we start somewhere we know she's been—Regina's office," Emma said, turning to the door. She glanced at me. "I might need you help with magic stuff."

"She left no trace, Emma," Regina said, shaking her head.

"But you were using magic," Emma replied. "Maybe there's physical evidence you missed."

"If you want to waste your time playing Nancy Drew, be my guest," Regina said. I didn't understand where the reference came from, but she continued. "But we can't wander around _alone_ with that witch and her flying monkeys out there." She paused. "Point being, someone needs to protect Henry."

"Regina, seriously?" I asked, smirking. "I practically helped raise him."

"I guess two magic users could protect one boy," Emma nodded. I smirked.

"Easy as cake."

"It's pie, Kaleen," David corrected. I sent him a sarcastic eye.

"Cake tastes better," I said, walking out the door with Regina.

—

We walked through the park, the lake shining against the gray sky. I had gotten myself rocky road. I had missed ice cream almost as much as I missed Henry.

"The ice cream good?" Regina asked. I had to look up to realize she was talking to Henry.

"Delicious," Henry replied. "My mom used to take me to Little Italy." He met Regina's eye. "But this is just as good." I smirked as he glanced at me for a moment.

"Well, Storybrooke's got its own little charms," Regina replied, smiling. I nodded. I had missed them, even though I had spent twenty-eight years under a curse. "Though I know it must seem small compared to the big city."

I agreed, saying nothing, an noticing half my ice cream was gone.

"It's nice, actually," Henry replied, smiling and thinking. "New York great but there's so many people it came make you feel…"

"Alone," Regina finished.

"Yeah."

"Yeah," Regina said. "That's the best part of a small town. Everybody knows everybody. It's like...it's like a big family."

I swallowed the frozen delight in my mouth. "A huge family," I said, receiving a sideways glance from Regina as Henry stared at me for a moment and then back at her.

I hated how he just saw me as a stranger. Regina must have felt so much worse.

"Can I tell you something?" Henry asked. He glanced at me. "You both something? Can you keep it a secret."

"Sure."

"Of course."

"I don't think it was just the case that brought my mom to Storybrooke," Henry said. The color drained from my face but he continued.

"What do you mean?" Regina spoke for me.

"I think she wanted to get out of New York for a while," Henry said.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Why do you think that? New York is great."

"My mom's boyfriend," Henry said. I swallowed again, hiding that fact that he wasn't a boy at all, but a flying monkey. "His name is Walsh. He proposed to her and two days later she's taking me out of school for some job in Maine."

He was smarter than I remembered. Of course, it had been a year since I had seen him last.

"She wouldn't take a job in Queen's if it meant I'd miss school," he said, glancing at me.

"We're old friends of Emma's," I insisted. "I've known her for a long time."

"Then how come I had never met you before?" He asked. He backed me into a corner there.

Regina saved me. "What do you think happened?" Regina asked. Henry stared back at her, through her.

"I don't know," he replied. "We wouldn't be here if she had said yes."

"And how do you feel about it?" Regina asked. "Did you like him, this...Walsh?"

"I like how happy he made her," Henry said, grinning. "Plus, it might be nice to have more than two place settings during holidays."

Regina smiled softly. "I think one day you'll have more family than you'll know what to do with."

"You think so?"

I smiled at Regina as she spoke. "I really do."

—

"David!" I sprinted to him as he kneeled on the ground, panting. I gripped his hand and with the help of Emma, to his feet.

"David, are you okay?" Emma asked as Regina and my father joined us.

"Yeah," David said, breathing heavily, like he would do after a battle. He leaned on me slightly.

"Well, where is she?" Regina asked in a demanding tone, snarling with anger.

David shook his head, sighing. "It wasn't her."

"Then who was it?" Hook questioned, as angry as Regina was. "I don't need another bloody demon running around." He scanned David. "You look whiter than a fresh sail."

"Myself," David said, panting. I checked his pulse, scanning him for any injuries, but I saw none. I had always been terrible with feeling someone else's emotions. Every magic user has a strength and a weakness. My strength was definitely not empathy.

"Come again?" My father asked. I met David's eye for a second as he pushed off me and to his own feet.

"You fought yourself?" I asked. He nodded. I shook my head. "It has to be the witch. Who else would pretend to be you?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Did you guys find where she might be hiding?" He glanced between us.

"The farmhouse," my father said. "We think it's her's."

"Then let's end this," David muttered. "Send that witch back to Oz." We started walking to the car and just how the conversation was dropped, my father brought up more questions.

"Any particular reason she would send a deacon that looks just like you?" My father asked.

"No idea," Davis puffed. "It was just there, wearing my face, harping on my deepest fears—"

"Wait," I glanced at him, holding his gaze. "The figure knew your deepest fears?" He nodded.

"Yeah, things I never told anyone, not even Mary Margret. It wasn't until I admitted them that I was able to defeat it by stabbing it with the hilt of my sword."

I gasped as terror swept through me. I met Regina's eye, both of us knowing what it was.

"W-where's your sword?" Regina demanded.

David shrugged. "Well, that's the strange part. After I filled it, the hilt it, it disappeared." I exhaled a sharp breath, causing my father to look over at me and in turn same a look of distress.

"What does that mean?"

"When we face our deepest fears, our true courage comes out," Regina said. "When you sued the hilt of your sword to vanquish your fears, your courage transferred into it."

"Then…" he glanced back at where we found him. "Why's it disappear?"

"It didn't disappear," I said, holding Regina's eye. "That bloody witch took it."

"Hang on," Emma said, eyed wide. "The witch stole his courage?"

"Well, a symbol of it at least," Regina said. Emma turned to face her. "And symbols can be powerful totems."

—

As we rounded the corner to the farmhouse, Emma rushed to the storm cellar, staring at the lock. "That lock," her voice was shaky. "It wasn't busted before."

Emma and David pulled out their pistols. I never understood why Emma needed one. She had magic after all. My father drew his sword, glancing at me. My hands were ready with magic. "Ready?" Emma asked. When he all saw us nod, David opened the cellar with a creaky sound echoing.

"So far so good," Hook commented. As the cellar door had opened, a wash of magic swept over me. I sensed something. A dark and powerful magic, almost choking me.

"Everyone stay alert," Emma said as she walked down the creaky stairs.

"There's definitely dark magic here," Regina said, glancing around until she met my eye and noticed I felt it too. I couldn't breathe deeply enough. The dark magic had such a strong pretense, I couldn't breathe. "Can you feel it?" I nodded but said nothing. Emma must have thought the question was for her.

"I don't know, maybe," Emma replied, voice shaky. "Whatever I feel, it's not good." She squinted. "What would the witch keep in a cage, monkeys?" Emma whispered to David as we caught sight of a cage door that was broken. David reached up, bathing the room in light.

"No, not monkeys," David whispered. I couldn't speak even if I wanted to. There stood a spinning wheel with pools of gold surrounding it. "Now, how many people do we know that can spin straw into gold?"

Emma was speechless as well, but managed his name out. "Rumplestiltskin."

—Then—

 _I pushed open the door to my home, cloak over my head, carrying a basket of fruit from the market. All I could hear were the soft sobs coming from my mother's room. I set the basket on the table and walked to the room. I pushed open the door slightly, staring at my mother, her blonde hair in a braid over her shoulder. She held her side in agony, tears staining her eyes._

" _Why won't you bloody work?" She cried softly. "I can't leave my daughter, not again." Not noticing I was there, she revealed her side. A deep cut, drenched in black, spreading out in all directions stained her side. My gasp made her look up and her face paled with horror._

" _Kaleen," she breathed, having to use the wall to stand up. "I promise you'll be fine." I took a step backwards, hands over my mouth. I was young. I had no idea how old I was, but her wound had played vividly in my mind for the rest of my life. She pushed forward, picking me up in her arms. "I promise you will be fine."_

 _I buried my face in her shoulder._

 _My mother had been poisoned._

 _And I would never know why._

—Now—

"Neal is back?" I asked, getting back used to the device in my hand. My father fumbled with the phone for a second.

"I hate this bloody talking phone," he cursed before he continued talking. "Yes, love. He's in this hospital." I glanced at Regina.

"Alright. I'll be there in a second," I replied before stuffing my phone in my pocket. "Neal's back."

"Neal's back?" She asked. After our failed attempt to find anything of use at Zelena's house, we walked away from the home. Rumple wasn't even in the cellar. I nodded.

"We should—" A twig snapped behind us. Whipping around, I reached out to sense a threat, a magical threat, but felt none. We glanced at one another. It was strange how before the curse she cased, we were enemies. Pure dark magic and pure light magic, just like Rumple and the Blue Fairy, the mother that raised me, the one that kept me safe after my first mother couldn't.

—Then—

 _I gripped my mother's hand as we walked through the woods, the stars and moon beaming down on us. Every couple of minutes, she would have to stop and clutch her side. Every step she took was harder than the one before. Sharp inhales and exhales echoed in my ears._

 _When we reached a clearing, the bright blue star beaming down on us, she sat down on a log, holding me close to her and staring up at the sky. Squinting, she spoke._

" _Blue, please," she whispered. "Please come to my aid." I stared at the sky. The bright blue star flickered and then brightened as the light lowered from the sky and enlarged in the clearing. In its place, stood a fairy, her wings folding behind her. She rushed to my mother's side._

" _Oh, Adeline," she said. My mother gripped the fairy's hand._

" _Please do something for me," she gasped, moaning in pain. The fairy nodded, glancing at me. "Please take care of Kaleen." The fairy's eyes widened just like mine. I stared up at my mother._

" _Mother—"_

" _Kaleen, please," she gasped. "I don't have much time." Tears reached my eyes. I clutched my mother, gasping for air, saying goodbye._

" _Mother, I don't want to leave you."_

 _She brushed my hair out of my face. "Blue can keep you safe, Kaleen. Safe from your family, from people that would want to hurt you." I choked. Blue sighed, but gripped my hand._

" _You have strong magic, Kaleen," the fairy whispered. I swallowed, a lump thick in my throat. "I can take her somewhere safe, Adeline. You have my word." My mother stared down at me one more time._

" _I love you, Kaleen," she whispered. "Now go." She pushed me into Blue's grasp. "She will take care of you." I swallowed, tears running down my face._

" _Mother—"_

" _Come, my child," Blue turned me away, gripping my hand. If only I had known what she was keeping me from seeing; my mother's gruesome death. I swallowed. I looked back at me mother as she worked herself up to tears._

" _I love you, Mommy," I whispered before Blue turned us both tiny and we flew up into the sky._

 _The first day of my new life._

 _The last day with my mother._

—Now—

"Show yourself, you winged freak," Regina hissed. I gasped when and arrow flew past her face and we both caught it. She scoffed, meeting the gaze of none other than Robin Hood, holding a crossbow.

"Apologies, M'lady!" Hood held his hands up above his head. "I thought you were the Wicked Witch!" I smirked as he walked closer.

"And I thought you were a flying monkey," Regina replied coolly. Hood allowed a subtle smile before he was only a few feet from us. He met my gaze before turning back to Regina.

"I do hope my mistake hasn't cost me my head, your majesty," Hood replied. He met my gaze again. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

I cocked my head sideways. "I would hope you'd remember the face of your son's savior." His eyes widened.

"The fairy."

I shrugged. "Not a fairy." I stared up at Regina for a second. "You seem to got this covered. I'll go help with Neal."

With a flash and puff of smoke, I stood in the hospital. I was almost devoured by a bear hug. I gasped.

"Father—"

"You're alright," he breathed. I pushed away quickly. I met my father's gaze.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment.

"You weren't answering your talking phone," he replied. I pulled out my phone. I had two missed calls.

"And you needed me that bad?" I asked. Emma had come around the corner. I swore she almost yanked me into the room where Neal laid. "Neal."

He raised his head, slightly, only enough for me to see his eyes. He smiled.

"Hey, Kaleen," he said. I stood beside his bed, gripping his hand, feeling his skin. My fingers traced the lines in his hand. I couldn't believe we had found him. It had been almost a year.

I turned his hand over, all the color draining from my face when I saw his palm, What was on his palm.

I swallowed. 'Neal, where did you get this?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "It was there when I woke up." I meet Emma's gaze, shocked and horrified all twisted up on my face.

"Do you know what it is?" She asked. I nodded, taking a shuddering breath. Although I had grown up in the hands of a fairy, I knew the symbol of darkness.

"It's a symbol, a key," I said, meeting Neal's eye. "It opens the vault of the Dark One."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will post the next two chapters so everything is back on time. If the font looks diffrent, it is because I had to change the program I wrote in. I'm sorry if that confuses anyone. Enjoy!**

 **—**

I scrolled through the pages of the books. I had been sent to look through the books with Belle, even though I knew what it was. I placed the book back on the shelf. I turned to Belle.

"Find anything?" I asked. She didn't look up. She shook her head.

"Nothing yet," she replied. "But we will find something."

"But you know what it is," I said. "Do you not believe me?" She sighed, closing the book and placing it down.

"I don't doubt you," she said. "It would just be helpful to know what it's used for."

"It's a key."

"What is it doing of Neal's hand?" She asked. I bit my lip.

"I see your point." I pulled another book off the shelf, flipping to a random page. The symbol stood bright as day.

"Belle," I walked over, handing her the book. She glanced over the page in silence.

"What did Neal do?"

—

I teleported with Belle to Neal, who wasn't supposed to be out of bed and Emma. As soon as they saw us, Emma's face lit up.

"Belle, what'd you find?" Emma asked. We walked closer, Belle still holding the book in her hand.

"The symbol on Neal's hand, it's from and ancient talisman. It's a key that opens the vault to the dark one. I think he may have used it to resurrect Rumple. Back when we were in the Enchanted Forest." Her voice was frantic, spilling out information faster than I could have.

"Wait," Emma glanced between us. "So, he brought Gold back?"

I bit my lip. "That's where it gets unclear," I said. "The vault will only restore the Dark One...in exchange for another's life."

"Whoa, hang on a minute."

"It's a one-on-one trade. If Neal used that key…" Belle glanced at me as she spoke. "...he should be dead right now." It hadn't been two seconds when Neal collapsed to his knees, crying out in pain.

"Neal!" I fell next to, pushing my magic into him, trying to sooth him, but his pain only fired into me and made me cry out in pain.

"Neal, what did you do?" Emma asked as he held his palm. I watched in horror, pulling away as his face transformed between his and Rumple's. I couldn't breathe again until his face stopped switching back and forth.

Emma gripped Neal, shaking herself. "I-I think Gold is inside of you," she said. "I think that's how you're still alive."

Neal groaned in a pain I couldn't place. "I can hear my father's voice in my head," he said. He cringed, reaching up for Emma. "He's in there! He's in me!"

"He said there was no room," Emma thought out loud. "He meant you." Her face was twisted up with a horror. "Oh God. Kaleen help him!"

"What do you want me to do?!"

"Separate them!"

"Even my magic isn't strong enough for that!" I exclaimed. "Blue never—she never taught me—"

"I need you to help me, Emma," Neal gasped, gripping Emma's arm. "Use your magic...separate me and my father."

"Are you kidding?" Emma asked, questioning him like talking to a madman. "Then you'll die!"

"I know," he said, moaning in again. "But you need my dad more than me. To figure out who the witch is, to save the town, you need to do this."

"I've never done anything like that before—nothing that big."

"Kaleen," Neal said, growling. "Help her."

"Neal, I don't know how," I said honestly. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Try." Her turned his face back to Emma, yelping again. "You're the only one who can! Do it. Save yourself. Save Henry." Emma's eyes were filled with tears.

I may not have known Neal as long as her, or as long as everyone else in this town, because I wasn't even born before he jumped through a portal to escape the enchanted forest, but I still cared for him. I couldn't let him suffer.

"Do it!" He pleaded, his eyes shut from his agony. "Please!" I held my hands out, closing my eyes, attempting to find something to grasp onto, like something to pull out. I had to find Rumple.

When Emma pushed with her magic, I almost had to let go. She could do it on her own. I could feel her power radiate off if her, stronger than the waves of the sun. I yanked my magic away as Neal tumbled out of his father, rolling into me.

I checked his pulse, his weak pulse. Frantically, I waved my hands over him, hoping I could save him. But...I couldn't heal what wasn't there.

I choked, trying to hold onto my tears as Emma crawled over to Neal. "Neal! Neal, are you okay?!" She glanced up to me and I shook my head, swallowing rocks.

"What have you done?!" Rumple almost screamed, as we sat Neal up.

"It's...okay...Papa." Neal's words were hard to make as his energy slowly died away. "I told them to."

"But why?" Rumple asked, bewildered.

"You can tell them...who the witch is," Neal breathed, opening his eyes to meet his father's gaze. "So you can defeat her." Rumple's face became twisted in a grimace.

"Zelena," he hissed.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Zelena," Rumple said again.

"She's the witch?" Emma asked. My jaw hit the floor.

"The one we left with Snow?" I asked frantically. "Bloody hell."

"There has to be a way you can save him, right?" Emma asked desperately.

"It's too late, Emma," Neal whispered, closing his eyes again.

"Just hang in there, please," her voice cracked. "You never even had a chance to see Henry—for him to remember you."

"It's okay," he said. I blinked, tears falling. "He doesn't need to. He just needs to know that, in the end, I was a good father." He reached in his pocket, pulling out a silver chain. "I saved this for you." He gave Emma a gentle smile. "To give to you again. Take it." Emma grabbed it. "Go find Tallahassee...even if it's without me," he said in almost as whisper.

"Neal..."

"Hey. I'll be watching over you guys from somewhere," he said with a smile. "Promise me—just promise me—that you'll both be happy."

"I promise," she whispered. "I promise."

"No," Rumple said. "No. No. No." He rushed forward, kneeling in front of his son. "I can fix this."

"No you can't," Neal said, reaching out and gripping his father's arm. "You can't." He swallowed, smiling sadly. "Thank you, Papa, for showing me...what it is...to make a true sacrifice. It's about saving the ones...that you love." He glanced at me. "I may have not know you for long...but...promise me you'll take care of my son."

"I promise," I choked.

"No," Rumple sobbed, skating his head in sorrow.

"It's my turn now," Neal whispered.

"No. I don't want to let you go."

"I need you to," Neal said. "Please let go." Rumple cupped Neal's chin, tears filling his eyes.

"I love you, son."

"I-I love you, Papa," Neal forced out before slumping against Emma, eyes wide and pupils dilated as Rumple kissed the back of Neal's hand.

"He's gone."

—

Emma slammed open the door to the loft, holding her gun out in front of her. Snow almost jumped out of her seat in confusion. I rushed over, waving my hand over her belly, making sure that she was alright, and that the heir was safe.

"Emma, David? What's going on?" She asked frantically. She grabbed the hand I waved over her belly. "Kaleen? Tell me what's going on."

"Where's Zelena?" Emma demanded, pointing her gun around the room.

"In the bathroom, why?" Snow asked. I stood in from of Snow as David and Emma went to opposite door and kicked them open at the same time. There, they found nothing but an empty bathroom and an open window.

"She had to know we were coming," David muttered. "Kaleen. Can you sense her anywhere?" I reached out, attempting to find her, but with no feeling of her before, I couldn't sense her.

"No."

"I'll call Regina," Emma said, pulling out her phone. "Kaleen, start up a protection spell. Regina will be here shortly." I raised my hands as Snow finally spoke up.

"Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?"

"I'm just glad you're safe," David said, walking over to his wife.

"Of course I'm safe," she said. "Why wouldn't I be safe?"

"It's Zelena," David muttered as Emma walked past us, taking a break from the phone.

"She's the Wicked Witch."

"What?" Snow asked, confused. "How do you know?"

"Gold told us," Emma said. "Neal brought him back before…" I swallowed, taking a sudden break in my spell to turn to Emma as tears returned to Emma's eyes.

"Before what, Emma?" Snow asked, standing up and walking to her daughter. "Emma, what happened?"

"Neal's dead," Emma whispered, tone heartbroken.

"Oh," Snow sighed, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Emma, I'm so sorry."

Emma didn't fight the embrace, resting her head on her mother's shoulder as she cried.

—

I said nothing as one at a time, we tossed dirt over him, pain and sorrow twisted up in our faces. I could say nothing as my father gripped my shoulder until the dirt completely covered the coffin. I swallowed, trying my best to push away the feeling of the people around me.

I said nothing as we all enter Granny's diner. I could only hold myself in silence, biting my lip, not sure what to feel at all, not sure what I should be doing. I sat down across from Henry, hoping to start a conversation, but only staring out the window and saying nothing. Henry was the one who brought up a conversation.

"Did you know him well?" Henry asked. I glanced over at him, suddenly remembering that he was talking about Neal. I gave him a short, quick smile.

"I would have liked to know him better," I said, croaking. My father and Emma walked to the table.

"Henry, you remember Killian?" Emma said, giving her son a small smile before my father wished the confused boy away to some sort of entertainment. I sighed, receiving a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you?" Emma asked. I glanced up.

"You're doing worse than I am, trust me," I said. "I just wish I could have done something more." Emma have me a soft smile.

"I know that if you could have, you would have," she said, nodding at me before walking over to her parents. I wiped away a tear that stained my cheek before setting my head down on my hands, resting on the table. I watched as people talked quietly, almost lost.

I closed my eyes, sighing again.

My eyes snapped open when the door slammed open, the bell jingling above Zelena, who stood with her arms open, the Dark One's dagger in one hand. I pushed myself to my feet.

"My condolences. I'm so sorry I missed the funeral, but I could never pass up a wake," she mocked, turning my direction. People jumped out of the way as she moved, but I stood still, unmoving. "Oh, did I miss the speeches? Shall I make one?"

Robin stopped moving to her when he realized she had a knife in her hand. She brushed passed me, smiling wildly.

"I mean, after all, I am responsible," she chuckled when Emma jumped forward, her mother's grip the only thing holding Emma back.

"Emma, no. Too many people will get hurt," Snow said, even when Emma continued to tug against her mother's grip.

"Listen to your mother. She's right," Zelma laughed. She pointed the dagger in Emma's direction. "Anyone who tries to interfere with my plans will have to deal with the Dark One." She snarled. I walked behind Zelena to Regina's side.

"Don't! Come any closer!" David hissed when she took a step to his wife, holding his hand protectively against his wife's stomach.

"Regina, what should we do?" I whispered. She glanced at me.

"Simple," she replied. "Find out why she's here, then get rid of her." When Zelena claimed that she wasn't here for the baby, Regina spoke up again. "So why are you here?" She pushed herself out of the chair.

Zelena stalked to the queen, glaring at her. "Now that my cover's blown, I can finally pay a visit to my family," she teased. She glanced between Regina and I. "Isn't this a family reunion?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Regina snapped. Zelena smirked.

"Why you, Regina," she chuckled. "And dear Kaleen here. I'm so glad to pay a visit to my little sister—"

"I'm an only child," Regina hissed. "Kaleen's mother died a long time ago. I doubt the pirate has any relation to you." Would I honestly be surprised? No. In this town, everyone is related. She crossed her arms, glaring at Zelena.

"Cora lied to you, Regina. I'm your sister," she pursed her lips together. "Half. If you want to get technical. And no, the filthy pirate has no relation to me." She chuckled. "But her mother did."

"Why should we believe anything you say?" Regina hissed, cocking her head.

"Oh, you shouldn't," Zelena replied. "It's a lot to swallow. Which is why I've brought you a gift."

"I don't want a gift from you," Regina chuckled, meeting the challenge Zelena laid out on the table.

"Oh, but you shall have it," Zelena smiled again. "You see, my gift to you Regina, is this sad, sad day. Use it to dig into our past, Regina. You need to learn the truth and you must believe it." She leaned into Regina. "And then, meet me on Main Street tonight, say...sundown."

"And then what?" Regina asked sharply.

"Then I'll destroy you."

"This isn't the Wild West," Regina snapped at the murderer. Selena's smile widened even further.

"No dear, it's the Wicked West," she pulled back from Regina. She turned to the rest of the diner. "And I want everyone to be there to see the Evil Queen lose."

"I don't lose," Regina said.

"Neither do I," Zelena chuckled. "One of us is about to make history. See you tonight, sis." As she turned to leave, I jumped forward, attempting to grab the dagger from her hands.

I wasn't ready.

Even with my light magic, I wasn't ready at all.

She stuck her hand in my chest and ripped my bright red heart out of me. I gasped, stumbling back. Regina's eyes widened.

"You see, I can't have our cousin assist you either, Regina," she said, holding my heart in her hand. Everyone was frozen. She squeezed it slightly and I cringed, not sure what to do, since I had never had my heart ripped out before. "She is the light magic of our family. I can't have her get in the way."

I didn't even notice my father worm his way back into the diner, his sword against Zelena's back. "I don't think so, love." He pushed it farther in. "Give my daughter her bloody heart back."

Zelena laughed. "Nice to meet you. Would you be my uncle? That sounds about right." She slammed my heart back into my chest and disappeared in a puff of smoke. My father caught me as I almost fell to the floor.

"I'm going to kill her," I cursed. "I'm going to kill that damn witch."

—

"Regina, is she even telling the truth?" Snow asked, a flashlight flashing in my face. I held up my arm she she pointed it away "Sorry."

"I don't know," Regina said. "I haven't found anything yet."

"I looked through everything I had, even the dreamcatchers," I added. "I found nothing."

Snow met my gaze. "Maybe you should sit this one out, Kaleen. You did just have your heart ripped out."

"I'm fine, Snow," I insisted. "Let's just focus on the problem at hand." She turned back to Regina.

"Are you sure Cora didn't booby trap her stuff?" Snow asked frantically. "I mean I don't think a sleeping curse would be good for the baby." I smirked, turning to a chest full of Cora's things.

Regina didn't respond, standing up and unfolding a piece of paper. She read over it as Emma walked into the vault. I glanced up. My father was watching Henry again. Even though I insisted on going to the farmhouse, my father had forbid it. I sometimes wished I wasn't as obedient as I was.

"David, Belle and Tink are locking down main street just in case this fight actually happens," Emma said, glancing at the walls and holding a flashlight in her hand.

"Regina?" Snow asked as I turned my head to stare at the parchment Regina held in her hands. "Did you find something?"

"Uh...A letter."

"What does it say?" Emma asked, stepping closer to her mother. Regina stared at it for a few long, aching breaths before setting it down again, eyes wide and disappointed.

"Zelena is my sister," she said quietly. Emma Snow and I glanced at one another quietly. Regina folded the parchment.

"Regina, what—"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," Regina cut her off as she put the paper back into the chest she found it in. "It's my fight. I've got it handled." She turned and walked out of the room, pushing past Emma and Snow. Emma met her mother's eye.

"What the hell just happened?"

—

"Have you seen Regina?" Emma asked Snow and I as the crowd of people gathered on the street. I Emma and I would protect them with our light magic. Hopefully that would work. I shook my head.

"Not since the vault," Snow replied, irritated. Tink came up to us, glancing around.

"If she doesn't get here so, that witch could take it out on all of us," Tink said.

David pushed past us. "Well, let's get everybody out of here before that happens," he muttered. "All right, listen up! We need you to get back to your homes!"

"No one's going anywhere." We spun around, hearing gasps as Zelena stalked towards us, the dark one at her command. "This show needs an audience." We stepped back, Emma and I at the front, ready to fight her if we needed to.

She stopped walking in the center of the circle. "Where is she, hm? Don't tell me she's a coward." She smirked, eyes landing on me. "Well this isn't good. For any of you." I glared at her wanting to set her on fire. "If my sister isn't here in five minutes, I'm going to let the Dark One off his leash," she threatened. Rumple closed his eyes painfully. She glanced up at the clock for what felt like hours of staring. "Time's up. Who do you want to kill first, Rumple?"

"He's not killing anyone," Emma spat, pushing past me. "If you want to fight someone, Zelena, fight me."

"Sorry, dear. I don't dance with amateurs."

"I'm not an amateur. I'm the Savior."

Zelena smirked. "Someone's got an inflated sense of self-worth." She nodded at Rumple and it sent Emma flying backwards into her father. I jumped at the opportunity and sent a wave of magic that hit Zelena directly in the chest. She gasped nodding again at Rumple who flipped me backwards into Tink.

"Anybody else wanna give it a go?!"

I was about to say that I wasn't done, but Regina strutted forward, raising an eyebrow. "I do." She cocked her head. "Didn't anyone tell you?" She mocked. "Black is my color."

"But it looks so much better on me," Zelena smiled wickedly. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."

"I couldn't let my sister off that easily," Regina scoffed.

"Oh? So you've finally accepted me as family?"

They circled. Regina snarled at her older sister. "I accept that we shared a mother, yes," Regina smiled when Zelena's own smile faded. "But I still have one question." She leaned to her sister. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Zelena asked, snarling. "You were born." Before I could react, Regina slapped her sister across the face, drawing blood.

"I've been waiting to do that all day," Regina sneered. I let a small smile grow on my face. Zelena glared at her sister, soon returning to smile again.

"Rumplestiltskin won't be there to save you this time," Zelena hissed as we all stepped back, giving them a larger space to fight. "He should have chosen me."

"Who?"

"Rumplestiltskin."

"That's what this is all about?" Regina scoffed. "You're jealous of me?" She waved her hand, causing a stoplight to rip from the wires, aiming for Zelena's face. Zelena quickly waved her hand, sending the stoplight towards more people. I caught it with magic before it hit anyone. I let it drop on the asphalt.

"We need to get everyone—"

Regina was flung at a car, crashing against the windshield before she rolled to the ground. She rushed to Zelena fire raging from her palm before it turned green and faded. Zelena picked Regina up in a choke hold before flinging her through the clock tower, shattering the glass.

"Regina!" I ran to help her, but Rumple used his own magic and sent me flying back. I landed against David with a grunt. When Gold disappeared, my heart dropped. Was Regina…

My question was answered when she opened the doors to the library.

"You're alright," I said, walking up to help her stand.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

David walked up. "Gold disappeared. We thought that meant—"

"That she defeated me?" Regina cut off. "Hardly. As it turns out, Zelena wanted my heart. It's a good thing I wasn't stupid enough to bring it with me."

"Any idea why she wanted your heart?" David asked.

"Well, she got your courage and wants my heart. Those are ingredients," Regina thought out loud.

"For what?" Emma asked. "A curse?"

"We're already in Storybrooke. We've lost our memories," Regina listed things off. She glanced down the street. "What more is there that she can do to us?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Why don't we call Marco?" Snow asked, lifting her head from where she rested it on the back of the chair.

"No!" Both Emma and David exclaimed. I sighed, sitting up from where I laid on the ground and sat with my legs cross.

"I can get a little magic to help," I offered. Emma glared at me, but said nothing. You need it.

"Should we even be doing this?" Snow questioned as David snapped two things together that shouldn't have been put together. "Ever since the showdown between Regina and the Wicked Witch, we haven't seen Zelena or Gold at all. Shouldn't we be focusing on her next move?"

"We are," Emma insisted. "We just can't stop living our lives in the process."

"Even if your lives are being driven insane because you don't realize that screw E goes with washer D, not washer A," I said. I eyed David. "David."

He quickly adjusted. "This crib is a statement. We're not going to lose another baby."

The door opened and closed. "And thanks to me, you won't." Regina walked around the corner to place something in her box she left on the table. "I'm finished."

"So?" David stood up. "Did it work? Were you able to put up a protection spell?" He walked toward Regina. She nodded.

"One that can't be undone by blood magic," Regina replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Which means Zelena won't be able to put her hands on that baby."

Snow sighed in relief."Any idea why she would want to?"

I turned my head to her. "There are a lot of dark spells that need baby parts," I said. "The number might shock you." Snow moved her hand over her pregnant stomach in distress.

"Zelena is one twisted witch," Regina thought out loud. "But as long as we are in here, we're safe."

"That's useless," Emma hissed. "I think we need to stop playing defense and start taking the fight to her."

"Did you see how I barely outwitted her yesterday?" Regina fired back. "She has magic. Powerful magic."

"I have magic too, I just can't always control it," Emma replied. She glanced at me. "So maybe if you, Kaleen and I could team up...If you taught me."

"Why does that feel so familiar?" Regina asked.

"I'm ready this time."

Regina chuckled, shaking her head. "Okay, but if we do this, we do this my way." Emma glanced at me.

"What about Kaleen's way?"

I raised my head that rested on my hands. "I may have light magic, like you, but even with my time with Blue, she barely had time to scratch the surface. I need a teacher as much as you, Emma. I can't be one myself."

Regina nodded, placing one hand on the chest. "This, is a way of life. You have to fully commit to it."

"Not a problem."

"Meet me at my vault in one hour," Regina said. "Kaleen, you're welcome to come as well." She picked up the box and walked out of the loft. I could hear her walking down the stairs.

"Okay, no complaining," Emma hissed. "I'm doing this. It's the only way." Emma stood up. "And yes, I will be careful."

"We know," Snow said as I stood up with Emma.

"And don't worry," David added. "We'll watch Henry when he comes back from the store."

"Actually," Emma said awkwardly. "I'm not sure that's the best idea." I cocked my head. Sure, he had been with my father for most of the time he had been here, but why was that a problem?

"What is it?" Snow asked.

"Well, you guys are tired. You need to rest," Emma insisted.

"I'm pregnant. I'm not sick with the flu," Snow replied, confused.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, um. Well, it's...pregnant cap. Last time you overwhelmed him with baby tips. He's twelve. He doesn't want to talk about pregnancies. It's not fun."

I smirked.

"Oh, we're fun," Snow insisted, almost glaring at her daughter.

"I'm just saying maybe Henry disagrees," Emma said, shrugging. Snow met her husband's gaze, horrified that her own grandson doesn't enjoy her company. "He'll get there. Remember, he doesn't know who you are."

"Well, if we're not fun, then who is?" David challenged. Emma swallowed, face twisted in guilt and awkwardness. I forced myself to say it, half in a chuckle.

"My father."

—

I walked behind Emma and Regina into Regina's vault. Regina glanced at Emma. "Don't touch anything."

We reached the bottom of the steps. "How am I supposed to learn magic if I can't touch anything?" Emma questioned. I walked to the edges of the room, staring at all the jars and chests of objects, keeping my hands in my leather jacket pockets.

Regina continued to walk forward as Emma picked up what looked like a baby dragon's hand. "The same way I did with Rumple," Regina replied. "We're going to create a solid foundation first and then build your way up." Regina saw what Emma was holding and walked up to her. "I said—" she took the object from Emma's hand. "Don't touch."

I sat down on a closed chest, watching as Regina moved to another chest on the ground. "So," she continued. "While we're here, who's looking after Henry? The uncharmings?" Regina opened the chest.

"Actually Hook is," Emma said, running her fingers on something in the corner.

"Well, those two have been spending a lot of time together lately," Regina paused. Emma shrugged and sighed.

"Hook's good with Henry and Henry likes him," Emma replied. I watched Regina, not making any comment about my father.

"He's prone to violence," Regina hissed. "Impulsive and has a hook for a hand."

"Regina!" I stood up, half yelling it.

"You can't tell me that he was the best person when you stayed with him for a year," she scoffed. "I bet he offered you rum."

"Only a few times," I replied, crossing my arms and taking my hands out of my pockets.

"See my point?"

"I trust him," Emma said. "He brought me back to Storybrooke and he didn't have to."

"I bet half of that was all the fairy over here," Regina motioned her head to me. I didn't argue with her even though the statement wasn't completely true. He turned to Emma. "Of course he brought you back."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma asked.

"Seriously?" Regina asked. "You're going to pretend that everyone doesn't see the yearning looks and dopey eyes?"

"I don't yearn."

I snorted and Emma heard me, sending me a look.

"Maybe," Regina replied. "But he does. Just ask his own daughter." Emma glanced at me, but said nothing on the subject. Regina picked up two books, identical copies it looked like and handed it to each of us. "Let's start with roots for incantations." I flipped to the first page, sitting down as Emma stared at her own copy and Regina turned away.

"Kaleen," Emma said. I looked up from reading incantations I already knew. "Your obedience floors me." I smirked, looking back down. Sometimes I wished I wasn't this compliant.

"Regina," Emma said, holding the book. Regina turned back around to face the Savior. "Are you kidding me right now? What language is this? Spanish?"

"We're not making tapas, Emma, we're making magic," Regina snapped, annoyed. "It's Elvish. Well, half Elvish."

"I'm never going to get this," Emma mumbled. "Is this what Rumple taught you? What about your training? What other methods did he use?" I looked up again, watching them both.

"Rumple was a bully," Regina responded, recalling her memories of training. "He didn't suffer fools and he certainly didn't doodle his students and if he tried to teach you how to swim and you couldn't learn, you drowned." I nodded.

"Sounds about right," I said. Regina met my gaze.

"Were you taught?"

"I went to him once, after he told me who my father was. When Blue couldn't teach me as often as I wanted, I went to him for help." I cringed. "Wasn't a good idea."

"Drowned?" Emma asked. Regina shut the chest lid, eyes widening with realization.

"That's it," Regina whispered.

"That's what?" Emma questioned, nervous. Regina lifted her hands, all of us disappearing in a puff of purple smoke. I dropped the book before she did it.

Before I appeared tied to a tree.

Before Emma appeared on a rope bridge with Regina standing at the end, close to the tree I was tied to.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Emma yelled, the wind howling against us.

Regina shrugged. "Teaching you to swim." She was standing over a cliff, a deep cliff that could kill her if she fell. I yanked against the bonds.

"Regina—"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Emma exclaimed, gripping the rope edge for her life.

"Every time you've exhibited your power, it's been spurred by your instincts," Regina replied. "So today, we're going to push those instincts until you master them."

"A little reading doesn't sound so bad now."

"You can stop me," Regina replied coolly, taking a step back from the bridge that was already unstable.

"Stop you from what?"

Regina chuckled. "This." She held her hand out and the bridge cracked and splintered off underneath the Savior.

"Regina!" I exclaimed, pulling harder. The bonds wouldn't break, even with magic. "Why the bloody hell am I tied to a tree?!"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Emma screamed as only the skeleton remained.

"Making the bridge collapse," Regina replied. "You can either stop it or die." She turned her head to me. "And your dear protector won't be able to help you this time. You will have to do this on your own. You will have to stop me and help her."

The skeleton of the bridge snapped from underneath her. My heart lunged forward, wanting so badly to help her. Emma held into the rope that was already about to snap.

"Regina!" Emma screamed. "Enough! Stop this!"

"No!" Regina snapped. "You stop more hand holding. You have to do this! Reach into your gut. You know you can do this. It's inside you Emma. Save the bridge. Save yourself." As soon as Regina spoke, the rope snap and Emma fell.

"Emma!" I yelled, pulling against the bonds so hand with magic and my own strength that they snapped and I tumbled forward. Regina stared over the edge, shaking her head as if she didn't want to kill Emma and I knew she didn't.

But up rose Emma on a pile of broken wood and rope, rising up to meet Regina and I on the edge. Regina nodded with satisfaction. Emma glanced at me.

"Did I just do that?" She whispered.

I held my hands up. "Don't look at me."

"Yes," Regina said as Emma stepped onto safe land. "When all I wanted was for you to retie the rope." Emma turned to look at the floating wood.

"Like you said," Emma breathed in shock. "Instinct. Why are you pissed? I did it. Why does it matter how?"

"You think I'm mad because you didn't listen to me?" Regina questioned. "I'm mad because look at all this potential inside you and you've been wasting it."

—

Apparently Ariel had been in town, met with my father for a few hours and disappeared to find her husband. She didn't even say hello to me, even though I helped create the necklace that gave her legs. "That's odd," I said. "Strange she never looked for me, but looked for you."

My father looked distressed and uncomfortable. He watched as Emma tried to see them the magic mirror style. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Father." He met my eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, love," he looked up. He bit his lip, watching the mirror as it swirled and we saw Ariel and Eric. Eric swung her in the air and embraced her, pulling her in for a kiss. I smiled, watching her finally have her happy ending.

Emma turned to Killian. "You did this?" She breathed in amazement. "You brought them together?" I smiled at him, nodding.

"Yes he did."

"No, love," he met Emma's eye. "It was all Ariel. She was the one who never stopped believing." His voice was low and he still seemed disturbed and on edge.

"Modesty?" Emma asked. "You're just full of surprises today." As the door to the loft swung open, I commanded the mirror to stop and Henry came running in, Davis laughing behind him and Snow following, biting her lip at the boys.

"Where have you guys been?" Emma asked. Regina walked behind her and I stood next to my father. Henry smiled hugely, looking through me before running up to his mother.

"Only having the best day ever!" He exclaimed. David closed the door. "David let me drive his truck."

Regina's face turned from the happy mother to the furious mother bear. "You let him what?!" There was a dead silence. I swallowed and Regina stared at her adopted son as he stared at her confused. I stepped forward.

"She's mayor, Henry," I said, gesturing to Regina. "She has to follow the rules of the road and things of that matter." Regina clasped her hands together.

"Yes, as mayor I can't let an unlicensed, underage driver on the streets of Storybrooke," her gaze met the floor, shifting her weight to one foot.

"As mayor, you might want to put a little money to repair," David replied, shrugging. Henry smirked, turning his head away.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

"This is a terrible mistake," Regina said as David pushed by my father and around the counter with Henry.

"She's right," Emma said, actually agreeing with Regina for once. "Someone could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Only if you're a mailbox," Snow muttered under her breath. I seemed to be the only one who heard it and smirked quietly, amused that Snow would even let Henry do that at all. Maybe she didn't know until it was already happening.

"It was so much fun!" Henry said, grabbing what looked like milk from the fridge. He poured it in his glass.

"What can I say?" David asked. "I've got a reckless, carefree...fun side." Emma smiled at her father.

"Killian," Snow said. "Where's our friend?"

He glanced at Henry before speaking. "It turns out her missing husband was back home."

"It's true," Emma said. "We just checked in on them on...skype." Henry nodded, not understanding we were speaking in code.

"She sends her regards," my father added. "She was too excited to wait." Snow smiled and breathed happily.

"A happy ending," she said, a wide grin on her face. "Maybe our luck is about to change." She turned to David and Henry. "Dinner at Granny's?"

"Can I drive?" Henry asked.

"No!" We all said at once.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you guys to it," my father began walking out the door. I took a step forward to follow him, but he put his hand out. "I just need some time."

As he made it to the door, Emma followed him. "You're not coming?"

"Another time, perhaps," he replied as he turned to walk down the stairs.

"If you change your mind, you'll know where we'll be," Emma said. "And Killian." He stopped and turned to Emma. "Whatever happened this last year whatever you're not telling me, I don't care. I'm tired of living in the past."

"I know how you feel," he said, nodding before walking down the stairs in silence.

—

After Ruby gave us our last order, we couldn't stop telling stories, especially Henry, who talked about New York. We laughed until it hurt to laugh. I stuck my fork in the brisket, stuffing it in my mouth.

That's when I felt him.

I turned my head to the window while everyone spoke, not noticing my sudden change of interest. I pushed myself to my feet as the presence turned and walked away, father away from the diner.

"Kaleen?" Emma asked. "What's—"

"I'll be right back," I said, nodding. "I promise." I pushed myself out of the chair and out of the diner, seeing his shadow as her turned the corner. I chased him in the bitter cold, hands in my pockets as I turned to him.

My running caught his attention and he turned when we were completely out of view of the diner. "Kaleen, I told you—"

"What's wrong?" I asked, breathing hard. "You're not yourself. They may not see it but I do."

"Kaleen, it's nothing," he said. He motioned his hand to the direction I came. "Just go back and enjoy yourself."

"How can I do that when my father is walking around like a ghost?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm truly concerned about you. What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand, Kaleen," he said. "Just…" he motioned his hand, trying to think of something to say. "Some things are complicated."

"Everything is complicated in this town," I said. "You honestly think I can't understand something more?" I could see my breath under the lamp light. "Is this about Emma or the mermaid?" I watched his expression. "It's both."

"Kaleen, please," he exhaled sharply. "It's my own concern to be worried about." I narrowed my gaze as I watched him struggle for words. I could feel anger bubble up inside me, frustration that he refused to explain to me his distress, that he wouldn't even trust his own daughter with a secret. "Just go back please."

"No," I hissed. I pushed away my natural instinct to be obedient. "I am your daughter. I am the only family you have left and you're refusing to trust me with one little problem?" He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Just go back," he said. "Just go enjoy yourself before the next witch strike." He said nothing as he turned and walked away from me.

"Hey!" I said, but he continued to walk away. "Killian Jones!" He stopped at fifteen feet, just as I said his name. "I am your daughter!"

"And that makes a difference how?" He snapped, turning around. "Just because you're my daughter doesn't mean I tell you everything. Just because you're my daughter doesn't mean my whole life revolves around you. You just bloody walked in and expected me to treat you like I've always known you! I bet you have secrets you haven't told me!" I wasn't ready for him to explode, but I guessed when he was worried, he was sensitive. I guessed he could get angry like a snap of a finger.

Just like me.

"I never expected you to take me in at all!" I yelled while taking a step forward. "I never expected you to be kind to me, to believe me. I never expected any of this!" I waved my arms frantically as I walked to him.

We were fighting. We were actually yelling at one another.

"But now that I am here and you've treated me like your daughter, even if that time was short, I will look out for you! I will protect you!" I was screaming now. "I am your bloody daughter! The one that you never even knew existed!" I was face to face with him now, glaring at him. "So if you won't tell me why you're distressed, then fine. I'll find out myself." With that, I gripped his hand and the memory smacked me in the face.

—

" _We had an agreement!" Ariel's hissed at my father, who held Blackbeard at the end of his sword, while the bounded pirate stood at the edge of the plank. Smee stood behind Ariel. "You promised me that you would help find Eric." Hook pushed Blackbeard further to the edge. "Please! I know that you are a good man and I know that man is still in there somewhere. It's not too late to do the right thing. Isn't true love more important than a few planks of wood and a sail?"_

" _She might be a few planks of wood and a sail, but she's mine," Hook hissed, glancing at the footed mermaid. He spoke about the ship, the one I stayed on for almost a whole year. "She's all I need. Love brings nothing but wasted years and endless torment. I'm doing you a favor." He turned to Blackbeard and cut into his arm with the sword. "A little something to weigh the appetite of our razor toothed friends below."_

 _He pushed Blackbeard into the water. A loud slash could barely be heard over Ariel's scream. "NO!"_

" _Enjoy the feast boys!" Hook exclaimed as only Blackbeard's hat could be found floating above water. "The Jolly Roger is mine! Any man willing to swear and oath to me will be given quarter. Those you don't are more than welcome to follow your former captain!" The pirates on the ship made an uproar of loyalty. Hook stepped down, sliding the sword back into its case. "You may release her, Mr. Smee." Smee stepped away from Ariel, who he had held back from interfering with Hook's murder._

 _Ariel slapped him across the face, a weak pathetic slap. It almost seemed she didn't know how to slap, otherwise, it would have been much harder._

" _I was wrong about you, Captain," she hissed. "You're selfish and you're heartless and that is what will bring you wasted years and endless torment. I feel sorry for you. You'll never be happy." She stepped up to the plank and walked to the edge._

" _Where do you think you're going?" Hook questioned. She turned on him sharply, glaring at him._

" _Eric's still out there," she said. "And whatever it takes, I will find him." She turned away before diving into the water, her legs and clothes turning into a shiny blue tail._

 _She swam into the distance._

—

I stumbled away, still comprehending the memory. My father stared at me, breathing hard, staring at me with disbelief.

"How did you—"

"Did you mean all those things?" I choked, tears coming up from the back of my eyes. "Why would you—Why would you even think…" I couldn't bring myself to say the words. "You killed him. You murdered." When he took a step forward, I took one back. I glared at him. "Why would you say those things? Was your ship worth more than your own family?!"

"Kaleen, please," he said. "Please. There's more to it."

"Would you have done that if I was there?" I asked, tears running down my face. "Would you have murdered a man?"

"Kaleen," he closed his eyes for a second, trying to respond. I swallowed, taking a step away from him. When he walked forward, I held my hands up.

"Don't come any closer."

"Kaleen, please," he said. "Just listen." I choked on more tears, the memory, the words he said fresh in my mind. I just couldn't...I couldn't. "I didn't mean any of those things."

"I felt your feelings in the memory," I hissed. "You. Meant. Every. Word. You said." I swallowed again. "Do I bring you endless torment?"

He bit his lip. "I was too worried for my pride to face the truth," he whispered. "You light up my life, Kaleen. I still believe in love." I blinked and more tears came flowing down my face. Sadness and disbelief clutched me. "I don't just love you."

"You love Emma," I breathed. "I know." I swallowed before taking another step back. I took a shuddering breath. "You want to prove it to me?" I asked. I crossed my arms, hugging them close to me. I sniffed, every time I closed my eyes, the memory played out in front of me and every time, my feeling got worse.

"More than anything," he said, taking a step forward and causing me to take a step backward. I swallowed, my breathing uneven.

"Tell her the truth," I said, my bright blue eyes meeting his own. "Until then," I held my free hand up before taking another deep breath. "We should take some time alone." I waved my hand and I found myself in my own room, where I collapsed on the bed, stuffed my face in the pillow and cried until I couldn't breathe.


	11. Chapter 11

The soft knock didn't wake me up immediately. It took me a few seconds to stir and comprehend my name through the door. "Kaleen? Are you in there?" I lifted my head from the covers, glancing at the empty bed on the other side of the room, the one my father slept in, but he wasn't there.

I moaned, walking to the door and unlocking it to Regina, who stared down at me with a face of shock. "You look terrible."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, walking away and sitting back down on the bed. "How may I help the queen this morning?" She smirked, closing the door behind her and sitting down in a chair next to the bed.

"We couldn't find you," she said. "We were worried." I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"I had a fight with my father last night," I replied. "I didn't want to talk to anyone." Regina nodded. I cocked my head. "Why are you here? Out of all people?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Was that an insult?" She asked, a smirk on her face. I smiled weakly, not replying. She shrugged and crossed her legs. "Because like it or not, Kaleen, we are family, cousins to be exact." I cocked my head while I brought my legs to my chest.

"You're my cousin?" I asked. Regina nodded and sighed. She reached to my bedside table and picked up the dreamcatcher with the memories of my mother inside. "How? Who am I related to?"

She traced her hands over the fabric and string. "I went through my mother's things and discovered that she had went to find her mother."

"Cora never mentioned a mother," I thought out loud. "She had a father she spoke horribly of." Regina nodded.

"She thought that her mother was dead, but, it turns out she left Cora's father for another man," Regina said. "And had a baby girl many years after Cora." I nodded.

"My mother."

"Yes," Regina sighed. "This family just keeps getting more complicated."

"How do you know this?" I asked. "It's not like Cora just wrote this down somewhere." Regina nodded at the statement.

"She made a deal with Rumplestiltskin to find her mother and finding that her mother was dead, she found your mother and her sister," Regina said. "She had wrote back and forth with your mother for a long time...until the letters just stopped coming." I blinked a few times.

"How old were you?" I asked. "Would you know?" She stared at me for a second, confused.

"Um...I'm not sure," Regina said, thinking. "In my twenties. It would have been after Daniel's death, long after, but before I became the Evil Queen." She glanced up and back at me. "Twenty four is my guess."

I swallowed. "I was six," I whispered. "That's when my mother died." I met Regina's gaze. "I think I actually remember when your mother visited my mother and I." My eyes widened. "I remember her. Bloody hell."

—Then—

 _At four, I ran around the kitchen room, a huge grin on my face. My mother had her hair up in a bun behind her. I plopped down on the floor, breathing heavily. "Mother," I said. She turned to me, looking up from the pot of soup she was making. "Do I have a father?" She paused for a moment._

" _You do."_

 _My eyes widened. "Can I see him?" She sighed turning off the fire with a flick of her finger. She reach down and picked me up._

" _Maybe," she said. "When he comes back into town, I'll consider it. Until then…" She lifted me above her head. I giggled with delight. "...let's play a little game."_

" _Well, deal me in, then."_

 _My mother whipped around, clutching me tightly against her chest. There, a women stood in the room, wearing a cloak. She had brown hair and eyes, the same eyes, that I notice now, as my mother's. My mother gripped me tighter when the woman stepped forward._

" _Who are you?" My mother hissed, taking a step back and with her free hand, she held it out in front of her. "I have magic. I'm not afraid to use it." The woman revealed her hand, a fireball appearing._

" _Good," the woman said, smiling. "We have something in common."_

 _The woman stepped closer._

" _Don't," my mother said. "Come any closer."_

" _I have no intent in harming you, Adeline," the woman chuckled. "I just want to meet my little sister and who is this?" She met my eye. "Is this my niece?" My mother turned me away from the woman._

" _You aren't welcome in my house until there is an explanation," my mother hissed. "We will take this conversation where my child is not dead center of it." The woman smiled._

" _Gladly."_

—Now—

"You look like you need something to do," Regina said when Granny handed me a hot cocoa. I smiled at her. She had persuaded me to clean myself up and get up, which, I had regretted. I couldn't believe she had waited for me downstairs. I took a sip.

"Is that a statement or are you asking me to do something today?" I asked. Regina sighed.

"I have never known you when you're a true teenager," she said. "Lazy and depressed." I smirked as I placed the cup down.

"What do you want me to do, Regina?" I asked, turning to face. "It better not be to talk to my father because that's the last thing I'm in the mood for."

"My heart is with Robin and his men," she said. "Why don't you take a walk there to check on it?" I nodded.

"Alright."

—

I walked through the trees, leaves, rocks and sticks to the campsite. When I emerged, five merry men had their bows pointed at me. I yawned and waved. "I was sent by Regina," I said, still yawning. "I'm not Zelena." Robin emerged, meeting my gaze.

"Stand down," he said. "She's a fairy." I rolled my eyes stepping up to him.

"I'm not a fairy, Mr. Hood," I said. "Being partly raised by one is different." I walked with him father into the campsite. He chuckled. "Regina sent me here to check on her heart." He led me to the base of a tree and pulled out the hidden heart in a cloth bag. He took it out and showed it to me. I nodded and he put it back in the beg and then hidden at the base of the tree, covering it with leaves. "Thank you. I better be going, now."

He stood up. "You seem in such a hurry."

I shrugged. "I'm always needed somewhere."

"That's not the only thing rushing you, isn't it?" He asked. "You had a fight, perhaps?" I smirked, nodding.

"I fought with my father yesterday," I said. "We're both kind of angry with one another. I want to stay busy." He smiled.

"Just stay for awhile," he said. "A few hours won't hurt. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to relax."

"That's what I thought until Regina forced me out of bed this morning," I yawned again. I could hear laughing and wasn't ready when someone ran into me at full force, knocking me over and landing on top of me.

It was a boy, my age, whose face was inches from mine until he scrambled to his feet, backing away from me without a word. I pushed myself to my feet and sighed.

"Perhaps you could watch where you're going," I said. He stood there, brown eyes wide and slack-jawed. "Can you speak?"

"Stop right there."

I whipped around, dark magic's presence filling me to the bone. Rumple stood there, with Robin pointing his crossbow at him. "You know this arrow never misses its mark." I stepped by Robin's side, leaving the slack-jawed boy.

"Rumple," I said, hands out in front of me. "You don't want to do this. Think of Belle. Fight the bond to the dagger."

"If I could stand down I would," Rumple said, sighing. "Heed me. Give me the heart."

"No," Robin said firmly.

"And who is this?" Rumple asked as Ronan emerged from the trees, carrying sticks in his hand. The little boy dropped them in terror.

"Ronan!" Robin exclaimed. "Go back!"

"Come here little boy," Rumple said. I slowly moved in between Rumple and Ronan, hands out in front of me.

"Don't!" Robin said. "Please."

"I don't want to," Rumple said. "I really don't." His magic tugged against Ronan.

"Come closer little boy." Ronan groaned as he was yanked forward.

"Daddy!"

I jumped in between them, grabbing Ronan and deflecting Rumple's magic with my free hand. Before I could move out of the way, he yanked me forward and on my back. Ronan rolled off, his feet trapped in the ground.

"Don't get in the way, Kaleen," he said. I moaned, pushing myself to a sitting position. "I don't want to do this."

"I didn't want to do this either, but—" Robin shot his arrow and the arrow flew, only being caught by Rumple's magic.

"It never misses its target," he said. He waved his hand, turning the arrow to Ronan. I gasped, going in front of the boy and trying to calm him as he whimpered and whined. "And I've just changed the target."

As I tried to free him with magic, a sharp pain met my whole body. I choked on a scream. On instinct, I held Ronan tightly. He closed his eyes, gripping onto me. "It will be alright," I choked. "Rumple stop!"

"Move, Kaleen," he hissed. "If I drop my finger, you both will die."

"No!" Robin exclaimed. All the merry men were frozen at the dark one's command. The pain doubled and I truly screamed.

"I don't want to," Rumple said. I shook with violence. "But I will." Robin moved forward just as Rumple was about to drop his finger.

"Wait," Robin said. He set down his crossbow, walking to the base of the tree.

"Robin," I said, shaking. "D-Don't." The pain came back again and inhaled sharply, knowing Rumple wanted me silent. "R-Rumple, please."

Robin grabbed the bag, exposed the heart to Rumple, who nodded. Rumple took the bag gently. "Thank you," he whispered. "And I am sorry, truly."

With that he dropped his finger and the arrow went flying through the air. Quicker than I could think, I waved my hand, magic flowing out of me and threw myself forward.

The arrow pierced me on my left side. I gasped, falling to my knees as Robin stared at me in disbelief. "Get your son," I said, pain in my side doubling as I started to bleed. Robin was unsure, but he picked his son up, comforting him.

Regina emerged, gasping when she saw me. "Kaleen!" She ran over, kneeling down to look at the wound. "Hold still." She waved her hand over the arrow and it disappeared, along with the wound. I chuckled as she finished, the pain gone.

"I could have done that myself, you know," I said as she helped me stand up. Robin met my gaze as Ronan ran off with everyone else.

"How did you—"

"I changed the target," I said. "I didn't have enough time to stop it." Regina stood between us.

"What happened?" She asked frantically. "Who shot you?"

"I'm sorry," Robin said to Regina. "It's gone." Regina's eyes met the floor of the forest. "Is anyone hurt?" She glanced at me. "Besides you." Because I'm not on the list of concerns, apparently.

Robin looked at his son. "Thanks to the fairy," he said. "No. No one was hurt besides her." He sighed. "I must apologize. You trusted me and I let you down."

"No you didn't," Regina said. "Nothing is worth the loss of a child." I smiled as I watched Ronan play some sort of game with another merry man. "But now we have a problem. I'm alive."

"I don't follow."

"She has my heart," Regina explained. "Gold's taken it for her and since she hasn't crushed it and killed me with it she needs it for something far worse."

"Worse than murder?" Robin asked. "What is she planning?"

"It doesn't matter," Regina said, skating her head. "Because I'm going to stop her."

—

"This is all useless crap!" Regina hissed, opening one book at a time and chucking it behind her, almost hitting me a few times. "Are you going to help me or just stand there?"

"Maybe if you weren't so violent with the property I would consider it," I said. Regina glared at me, anger clearly shown in her dagger eyes. She continued, harder this time.

"Zelena has my heart," she snapped. "And we need to find out what she's using it for."

"Hey! Hey!" Belle came running around the corner. "Hey! Stop it! Wha—" She waved her hands. "What are you even looking for?"

"I need to destroy my sister," Regina said, looking up and around. "She has my heart." Belle took a cautious step back. "Oh, relax, she can't control me with it. I protected it from that."

"We just don't know what she using it for," I said in a far less sharp tone than Regina.

"And that's the problem."

"That's why I need your help," Regina said, walking up to Belle. "What do you have here?"

"What do I have here?" Belle followed up in a hiss. "Self respect! Why on Earth or any realm would I help you? The woman who imprisoned me in a tower in her castle and then put me in an asylum for twenty-eight years, who has done nothing but physically and mentally tortured me ever since we've known each other!" She met my gaze. "Why are you helping her? Didn't she try to kill you?"

"Multiple times, yes," I replied nodding and crossing my arms. Regina smirked, hands on her hips.

"Bookworm has teeth," Regina said, smiling.

"Get out," Belle hissed. "Get out, Regina."

"Yes," Regina said. "I did all of those horrible things in the past but right now, I need something to defeat the woman who is puppeting your boyfriend. She has your Rumple and unless you help me, you may never see him again." Belle stared at her, confused from Regina's gentle tone with her. "I'm sorry, Belle. I really...really am."

Belle said nothing for a minute. She shifted her weight and leaned on the counter with a sigh. "So, I've been trying to match the ingredients Zelena's been collecting to whatever spell she's trying to cast. It would really help if I knew what's so special about your heart. Does she just want it because you're sisters or—"

"I have no idea," Regina said quietly. Her eyes then widened when something clicked "The candle. Where's the candle?" Regina walked to the edge of the store, opening drawers and boxes. I did the same as Belle lifted the three-headed candle that could be Lumiere from the cartoon version I used to watch with Henry.

"Here?" Belle asked, showing it to Regina.

"Not that one. The two sided candle Snow used to kill my mother," Regina said. "Where is that?" Belle shrugged opening a drawer and pulling out the black and white candle.

"It's power is gone," Belle replied. "Now it's just a relic." She showed it to Regina and Regina's eyes widened, smiling as she walked over to it and took it from Belle's hands.

"This isn't about how my mother died," Regina said, holding the relic. "It's about how she lived."

—

If I knew my father was going to be there, I wouldn't have come, but once I came, I sat at the opposite side of the table and refused to make eye contact with him. I knew he hadn't told Emma the truth. Emma sat down next to Hook. I sat next to David.

"Emma will you please tell your mother that we're not going to name your brother Leopold?" David asked. I smirked as I watched Snow's face of shock.

"Why not?" Snow asked. "It was my father's name!"

"People will make fun of him."

"My father was a king," Snow hissed, slightly annoyed.

"Which is why no one made fun of him," David said. I sighed, leaning back in my chair.

"What about Ava after my mother?"

"I don't know how well that would work with a boy," David said, glance meeting the wall. Emma seemed amused with the whole situation.

"It may not be a boy," Snow replied, giving her husband a sly eye.

Regina came in suddenly, holding a pot of tea in her hand. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said. "I was making this special tea." I then noticed the cups in front of us. As she poured David's, he reached and brought it to his mouth. "No! Don't!" David stopped. "Drink it. It's a deadly poison to summon the dark vortex."

"I prefer Earl Gray," David said, placing the tiny glass down.

"The dark what?" Emma asked, confused.

"Zelena came by this morning, while the dark one was stealing my heart," she sighed, taking a seat next to me. "She was here gloating. She said that my weakness was that I don't know enough about her past, so I've decided to summon someone who does." She sighed again, unsure. "We have to talk to my mother."

—

"It's a fairly simple ritual but not often performed," Regina explained. I adjusted in my seat, uncomfortable since we were going to speak to my aunt, who murdered several people and whose murderer sat at this table.

"If it's easy to talk to the dead, why not do it more?" Emma asked.

Regina looked at Snow doubtfully. "Well, because to do it, you need the murder weapon...and the murderer."

Snow's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"What do we need to do?" Emma asked.

Regain stood up, lighting both sides of the candle as we gripped hands. "Focus on Cora."

"Welcoming thoughts?" Hook asked.

"Whatever you're got," Regina admitted. We linked hands and closed our eyes as we waited. I thought of that one memory from when I was a child, the one where she appeared in my mother's house. Maybe that's why when she came to Storybrooke she had no interest in hurting me, in fact, she seemed surprised to see me.

The fire sputtered out. The wind gusted in. A loud crashing sound filled my ears. I looked up. A blue vortex swirled and moved on the ceiling.

"We did it," Regina breathed. "Cora? Mother, can you hear us?" I spoke up too.

"Your niece is here too!" I said. "Adeline's daughter!"

"Cora, give us a sign," Regina tried. "Do not ignore me now, mother. You owe me this."

I jumped when the table jerked, letting go of Regina and David's hands. Hook grimaced.

"Oh, sorry love, that was me," he said. "I crossed my legs and bumped the table." I glared at him, but he didn't realize it. I shifted my gaze to Regina.

"Should we try again?" I asked. Regina sighed deeply, reaching up to blow out the candle.

"No there's no point," Regina replied, disappointment in her voice as she looked up a the ceiling. "She doesn't want to talk to me. Guess whatever secrets lie in her past, she wants to keep buried there."

—

I walked out of the house in silence, my hands in my pockets. I could hear footsteps behind me, but I didn't turn to look. I knew who it was. I continued walking, slightly faster. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Adeline was your mother?" He asked, coming into my view. I held his blue-eyed gaze and crossed my arms.

"She was," I said as I stepped to get into his face. "Do you actually remember her? Or was she just another torment?"

"Kaleen, please," he said. "I made a mistake, a big one. I want to make it up to you."

"Tell Emma the truth," I said. "Then I'll consider it." He sighed before smirking.

"I see so much of your mother in you," he said. "Now that I know who your mother was, information you never bothered to tell me, everything makes sense." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm glad to see you actually pay attention to the women you hit on and leave like objects," I hissed, sarcasm lacing my voice. He flinched from the insult.

I took a step back. "I'll see you around, Captain." I waved my hand and teleported away, landing in front of the diner. I sighed as I walked up the steps. Emma told me to go watch Henry, and even though I liked watching him, he still looked at me like a stranger. I sometimes wished I wasn't so obedient.

I walked up the steps, the bell ringing above me as I sat down across from the young boy, the boy I had partly helped raise, the one who treated me like a stranger. And even though I knew that wasn't his fault, it cut like a knife.

His nose was deep into a book. He didn't seem to notice me until I spoke up.

"Dickens, huh?"

He gasped, looking up and meeting my gaze frantically. He saw me and smiled. He closed the book and but it down. "It's for a school project."

I nodded. "I never found those books exciting. I just got bored after a while."

He smiled, his grin growing in size. "I thought I was the only one." I chuckled.

Maybe his memory was gone, but he was still the same old Henry, the one I helped raise.

The one I loved.

—

I got back to my room after I had put Henry in his room, taking off my jacket and sitting down with a sigh. My black hair fell on either side of my shoulders and I sat in silence for a moment, listening to the clatter in the dinner downstairs.

My head snapped up to the knock on the door. I stood up and opened it, only to find Hook in the doorway. I glared at him. "When I said I didn't want to talk, I meant it."

"Kaleen, you forget that I also live in this room," he said. With a grunt, I let him in. I walked to the window and kept my back to him the whole time he messed with his things in the corner.

"You seem angry at me, love."

I whipped around, fury running through me. "I'm furious!" I exclaimed. "You know that!"

"What is making you the most angry?" He asked. I stared at him for a moment, considering the question.

My voice was low. "That you lied."

"Lied?"

"I don't care that you killed a man," I said. "That's not why I'm upset. I'm angry because you kept secrets from me. From your own daughter!" He stared at me for a second. I waved my hand. "I'll just ask Granny to get another room." When he stepped forward, I felt something off...something about his presence.

There was magic. Dark magic. I gasped, stumbling to the nearest wall with my hands out in front of me. "You're not my father."

The figure was engulfed in a green smoke. I heard a laugh as Zelena stepped out of the mass. "You're smarter than the pirate," she said, smiling. "Poor thing was so guilty about the mermaid that he confessed his love for the Savior."

"Wait a second," I said, think out loud and realizing what she was saying. "Ariel wasn't here at all, was she?"

"No," Zelena stepped forward. "And when he kisses Emma, his cursed lips will destroy the magic inside her, leaving me with only one obstacle." She leaned in closer to me. "You and your light magic." My hands glowed, protecting me from her.

"You really wouldn't kill your own cousin, would you?" I asked, stepping forward and forcing her to take a step back. "I've done nothing to you."

"You're right," Zelena said. "I'm not angry at you at all, in fact, in this knew world I will create, you will be a part of it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and I have so much more in common than you think, Kaleen," she said. With one hand, I reached for my phone, dialing the first number I could touch. I placed it on the table behind me, not knowing who I had just called, but knowing they would receive it. "Both of our fathers met our mothers at a bar, yes? Both left them for nothing."

"Don't come any closer to me," I hissed. "Get out of my room, now. Light magic can hurt you, Zelena, I've just never tried using it on you."

"I'm not the one who's going to get closer to you," she said, smiling. "The Dark One is." I gasped, flinging myself around.

But I was too late.

Rumple plunged my hand in my chest, twisting and ripping my heart out. I gasped and fell to my knees. I clutched where it would have been as I looked up, Zelena walking to Rumple's side.

"Why don't we take this somewhere private?" Zelena asked. With a flick of her hand, we were engulfed in a cloud of green smoke.

—

Emma pulled up next to the dinner and threw herself out of the car, Hook following close behind. They knew why Zelena needed all the ingredients now. They knew she was going back in time.

They also knew that Kaleen was an obstacle in Zelena's plan.

Hook and Emma ran up to Kaleen's room frantically. When Emma yanked open the door, there was Kaleen's phone, still connected to Emma's. But Kaleen was nowhere to be found.

"Bloody hell."

Kaleen was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

I gasped awake, my arm straining against the bonds that held me. They were tied in front of me as I sat on the floor of a cage, the same cage that Rumple was in, the same one we discovered.

When I tried to use magic, I couldn't. I quickly noticed, even from the dim light, that there was a cuff on my wrist. When the memories came flooding back, I jolted to my feet, unsure if my heart was still inside me or not.

Why hadn't Zelena killed me yet?

When the light came flooding through the doorway, I squinted, still unsure. When Hook came flying down the stairs and up to the bars, I couldn't breathe. "Father?"

"Kaleen," he whispered frantically. "We need to get you out of here. Can you just wave your hand and whisk the lock open?"

I shook my head. "There's a cuff on my bounded hands." I lifted them for him to see. He sighed before he began to mess with the lock. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" He asked, not stopping with the lock picking. "Saving my daughter." He paused in his speech just as he twisted the lock and it popped off. He opened the door and yanked me out, embracing me, his hand on my head and running down my hair, comfortingly. "Kaleen, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me, love?"

I buried my head in his chest and nodded, tears beginning to come up. I nodded. "Yes." I pushed away from him. "Cut these bloody things off." He cut them and ripped the cuff off my wrist. I could feel my magic returning. "We need to get out of here, since you came alone."

I stepped into the light. "Hold onto me." Before I could wave my hand to teleport away, Zelena stepped outside, holding something in her hand.

"I don't think you're going anywhere," Zelena cooed, stepping up to us. My father took a protective step forward. "Oh, Captain, still so protective of something you never even knew you had." I snarled at her. Right as I gripped my father's arm and the magic flowed for me to disappear, Zelena held up...my heart.

My eyes widened and I swallowed, knowing that she could tell me to do anything she wanted, even kill my own father. I took a step in front of him and turned to him. "Leave now," I hissed.

"Kaleen—"

"If she wanted me dead, she would have killed me already," I said. "She could make me do anything. She could make me kill you. Go help the rest of them. I'll be fine." I took a step away from him and waved my hand before he could object. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving me standing with my back facing my cousin.

"There's no point in leaving since you can just call me back the second I do," I said, turning back around. "So, why don't you tell me, Zelena. Why in the hell haven't you killed me yet?"

She chuckled. "You see, I never wanted to kill you. Not like Regina, but you were in the way and I knew you would do anything to protect the precious baby."

"I have an oath to protect their youngest heir," I hissed. "So I guess that's true." Zelena laughed, walking forward to me. "In the city, you send a monkey after me. In Storybrooke, you sent one after me. Why did you want me so badly?"

"You have powerful magic, cuz, magic that could rival the Savior's," she said, slightly squeezing my heart and causing me to exhale sharply. "And I've needed it."

—

"Zelena has Kaleen?" Regina asked Hook. He nodded sadly.

"And Kaleen sent me away before Zelena could order her to do something," the father replied, a grim look on his face. Regina glanced up a the ceiling, thinking.

"We know that Zelena wants to go back in time," Regina thought out loud before it clicked. "Maybe she needs more magic." She snapped her fingers. "She needs Kaleen's magic."

"Why would she need light magic?" Hook asked. Regina thought for a moment, considering the question.

"It's not just any light magic," Regina said. "It's fairy magic, uncontrolled fairy magic, powerful magic that doesn't have to follow the rules of the fairies." Her eyes widened. "She needs Kaleen's fairy magic."

—

"He's gone," Emma said as she walked up to Regina, Snow and David with her phone in her hand. "I sent Hook to watch him but he's gone too." Regina held the story book in her hands, hoping that would make Henry believe again.

"Hook was here this morning," Regina said. "He was worried about his kidnapped daughter." She paused. "Both of them are gone? Let me use something of his. I can try a locator spell."

"I'm way ahead of you," Emma said as she typed in her phone. "I've got a GPS in his phone." Her eyes widened. "He's at the docks."

—

"Henry this is a friend of mine," Hook said in the falling snow. He motioned to Mr. Smee. "Mr. Smee."

Henry cocked his head in amusement. "Like from Peter Pan?"

Smee stared at him for a second. "You-You remember?"

"I've seen the movie a million times," Henry replied, smiling.

"It's quite a common name in the seafaring world," Hook lied while he turned back to Henry. "As luck would have it, he's making sail for New York and would be happy for the company."

"I am? I mean, I am."

"Really?" Henry asked, nodding his head. "Where's your ship?" Smee looked around before his eyes landed on a random vessel behind him.

"There she is."

"You're stealing it," Henry said as he understood everything. "Right?"

"Do you want to go to New York or not?" Hook asked quickly. Henry thought about it for a moment, unsure of what to say before a question came up.

"If you really want to help me," Henry said. "Then answer a few questions." He didn't wait for a response. "Is the person who killed my dad the same person that took your daughter?"

Hook stared at him for a moment, saying nothing, knowing that on the look of Henry's face, he understood.

Henry's face dropped. "I'm sorry."

"Captain," Smee said as he saw something flying over the horizon, flying straight for them and screeching.

"Mr. Smee we need to get the lad to the boathouse," Hook said when he saw it too, his eyes turning from pure sadness to alert and distress.

"Why?" Henry asked. "What's going on?" As he looked up, he saw it too. His eyes widened. "Killian what is that?!"

"Now!" Hook yelled, grabbing Henry's arm and running to the boathouse quickly. The creature screamed. As soon as they made it inside, Hook yanked the door closed behind him.

"What now, Captain?" Smee asked, obviously as distressed as he was.

"Take the boy there, the far exit," he ordered as he pulled out his pistol. "Find a new boat. I'll stay and deal with our winged friends. Henry! Go with Smee! Don't stop no matter what you hear!" Henry began to run, but stopped when he saw the monkey. "Henry go!"

Henry sprinted, faster that time as Killian shot the creature and caused it to turn to dust. He shot a second one just before Henry tripped and a third landed above him on a wooden beam, hissing at the fallen boy.

"No!" Killian cried, trying to shoot it but having no more bullets left. It jumped at Henry, soon being turned to dust as well when Emma shot it. David ran forward, throwing his sword at another.

Regina walked to the edge. "I never liked pets." She created a fireball in her hand and continuously shot at them with fire with Emma at her side, shooting them with her pistol and causing all that came close to be turned to brightly-colored dust.

Emma ran to her son. "Henry! Are you okay?" She helped the frightened boy stand.

"Yeah," he said, speaking way to fast. "What were those things?" David slid his sword back into the holster. "Why does he have a sword?"

"Everything's going to make sense in a minute, I promise," Emma said as she clutched the book in her hand. Henry hadn't noticed it yet.

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked, confused and frantic all at once.

"I'm sorry," Emma said. "You were right. I was keeping things from you. You deserve to know the truth." She held out the book. Henry stared at it, confused.

"About fairy tales?" He asked. "I don't understand."

"Do you trust me?" Emma asked. Henry nodded.

"Of course I do."

"Then I need you to believe," Emma said. Henry stared at her for a second.

"Believe in what?"

Emma paused before she spoke again. "Believe in magic."

"From a book?" Henry asked doubtfully. Emma shook her head.

"It's more than just a book. Do you believe in me?"

He searched his mother's face, his own twisted in a confusion, even as he answered. "Yes."

"Then take it," Emma said softly. Henry looked down at the book, unsure. But he reached out and took the book in his hands, magic flowing into him, giving him his memories back. He gasped as he recalled everything. Emma took a step back.

His voice was soft. "Mom?" He turned his head to Regina. "Mom!" Regina smiled, joy to vibrant to describe. She walked up to her son and embraced him tightly, missing what that felt like, almost crying from relief. He held onto her tightly. "I remember." He turned to Emma. "I remember!"

"Do it Emma," Regina said, holding Henry's shoulders. "Break the curse." Emma leaned forward, about to kiss her son's forehead before he disappeared in a green flash. Emma gasped and Regina whipped around.

"So sorry to interrupt," Zelena sighed, holding Henry against her, one arm wrapped around his chest. "Now who wants to say goodbye first?"

"Who are you?!" Henry exclaimed.

"You can call me auntie Zelena," she replied, smiling. Regina snarled, mother bear taking control of her.

"Enough of this," she hissed as she walked to her sister. Zelena said nothing when Kaleen appeared out of the blue and threw Regina back several feet. Before Hook could grab his daughter, she disappeared again and stood behind Zelena, dread in her face.

—

"Let him go," Emma said. "He had nothing to do with this. Kaleen do something!" I swallowed. Zelena had my heart. I couldn't do anything to save Henry. It was all Emma.

"Don't blame me," Zelena said, her hands moving to Henry's throat. "The captain failed me." I looked up at my father, confused as much as Emma was.

"Damn you, Zelena," he hissed.

"Hook, what's she talking about?"

"He knew that the price of that deal was," Zelena replied, turning Henry to look at her. "Your son's life." Henry wheezed and gasped as she choked him.

"Zelena, please," I whispered. "Please don't do this."

"In time you'll learn to understand," Zelena said to me as Henry gasped. "They are just distractions." I turned to Emma, tears in my eyes because I could do nothing.

"...mom…!" Henry wheezed. Emma closed her eyes, hands out in from of her as I felt the magic burst out of her. Light bathed Zelena. Zelena screamed, holding on as long as she could before the burn worsened and she had to let go.

"Run!" Emma yelled. Henry didn't hesitate. He bolted straight for his mother and I smiled with delight and relief, that he had made it out. Emma clutched his son close as Zelena screamed with frustration.

"Kaleen!" She hissed. "Look at me." I looked at her, not in control of my own body. I fought it as best as I could, but the tether to my heart still held firm. "I may not be able to get close to her but you can." Oh, God. Please no. "Kill the boy, won't you dear?"

My father's eyes widened as did Emma's. She moved her son behind her as I stepped forward.

"Kaleen," My father said. "Don't do this."

I shook, choking on tears. "I can't stop myself. Emma stop me!" My magic, like a switch, was flipped on and I threw Emma to the side, lunging forward and grabbing Henry. His eyes were wide with shock and horror.

"Kaleen!" He said. "Please!"

"I'm so sorry Henry," I whispered. I could see Zelena smiling with triumph. "I'm so sorry." My hands shook as I reached for his heart, but remembering that Regina had put a spell on it a year ago, I reached up for his throat and squeezed it. He gasped again, clutching my hands. "I'm so sorry Henry." Emma pushed herself to her feet.

"Kaleen stop!" She hissed. "Don't make me—"

"Do it!" I screamed. I shook as I struggled to fight on the tether to my head. I cringed from the increasing pain of fighting it. "Emma! Please!" She did the last thing I thought she would. She didn't use magic. She punched me in the jaw and as I let go, the used magic to chuck me against Zelena.

Zelena screamed in frustration. "Enjoy this moment together!" Zelena screamed, yanking me up by the collar of my shirt and choking me. I could see my father tense. He knew he could do nothing. "Because you don't have many left!" Zelena whipped her hand and we both disappeared.

—

I collapsed on my knees when we appeared back in her living room, gasping and shaking and in terrible pain. She stared down at me, disgusted. "No matter what I do, you fight me."

I looked up as I trembled. "I. Will. Not. Kill. Henry." I said in short bursts of air. "I would kill myself first." She chuckled, stepping over me.

"In time, he will die," she said. "I will be the one that makes you kill him." I stared at her, swallowing and realizing how much my jaw ached with pain. "Now we just wait for the baby and you my dear Kaleen…" she kneeled down to my level. "Will use your magic to cast my spell."

—

"I'm sorry, Kaleen," Rumple said. Zelena had left for only a short moment and we both stood in her kitchen. "I truly am." I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair.

"I know you wouldn't have taken my heart if you had a choice," I replied. "You don't need to be sorry." He sighed before a thought came to mind.

"When you returned, you were shaking," he said. I nodded. "Why?" I shrugged. I honestly didn't know why.

"I fought the tether to my heart I suppose," I said. "The more I fought Zelena's orders, the more pain I was in. It still hurts where my heart once was." He glanced at my chest and then back into my eyes.

"You shouldn't have been able to do that," he said blankly. "You shouldn't have been able to fight it at all." I cocked my head. I didn't understand and the look on my face told him I didn't. "When I'm tethered to the dagger, I am still myself but I can't fight Zelena's orders. "I cannot fight what she tells me. If I try, nothing happens. The heart is the same way." He brought his hand to his chest. "When you tried to fight it, you shouldn't have been able to."

I thought for a moment. "Then how did I?"

"I don't know," he said. "If I did, I might try it myself." He paused. "Now that the curse is broken, since Regina gave true love's kiss, everyone has their memories. Maybe they'll be able to protect the baby from us."

He sighed, nodding. "I truly hope so." With that, a tearing pain went through me. I gasped, my weight shifting to against the table. I moaned as Rumple rushed over. "Kaleen? What's wrong?"

I groaned, hurting to stand. "I don't know."

"I do," Zelena purred as she walked into the room. "You see, I did a little study on fairy magic and it turns out their oaths are quite serious." I glared at her. "You may be able to kill the heir under my control, but to protect them, you need to feel when they're in danger." My eyes widened.

"What did you do?"

"Only activate part of your oath," she said as the pain shot through me again. "You feel when the baby is coming." She looked down at me before she waved her hand over the heart and the pain stopped. I gasped and was finally able to stand. "And because of you," she leaned in. "I know that the baby is coming."


	13. Chapter 13

**Standard Disclaimers apply**

"Aww," Zelena said, walking forward with the dagger in one hand and my heart in a leather bag at her side. She walked to my father and Emma and laughed. "You two are so adorable. But instead of looking for each other, maybe you should be focused on me. Although, without magic, that could prove to be a challenge."

I walked behind her and Rumple did the same. We exchanged glances, both wishing for the same thing: to be set free of Zelena's control.

"Next time you try to take my power away, why don't you try chanting your work on someone I'll actually kiss?" Emma hissed. I glanced up at my father, who seemed to almost flinch from the comment. He met my dreadful gaze and met the same emotion

.

"See, Emma, you've got a decision to make," Zelena purred. "You can keep your magic, which makes you, oh so sad. Or you can save the man you just can't wait to get away from." She turned her head to the Dark One. "Rumple."

Rumple raised his hand and my father went flying through the air, his head submerged in a tub of water as he hit the ground, but as he struggled to breathe, Rumple held him firm with magic. I whimpered, not able to do anything as Emma rushed over, attempting to yank him out.

"Zelena, please," I whispered. I knew she heard me, but she ignored me fully, her eye on the Savior and the drowning pirate.

"Choose wisely," Zelena mocked. Emma continued to tug and pull to save him "Try all you like. You can't free him." I saw nothing more before I was enveloped in a could of green smoke and appeared in the hospital parking lot. The baby! She's coming for the baby!

"Protect the baby!" I screamed before she rolled her eyes. She continued to walk, feeling my heart at the side of her belt.

"Shut up, cuz."

I closed my mouth, unable to speak from the command. The dwarves saw us and ran inside. "Incoming!" They ran past the merry men, who stood in a formation, ready to shoot at us.

"Aim firm for Little John!" Robin exclaimed, but before he could do anything, Zelena simply waved her hand and they all fell to the ground. We turned the corner. I saw Belle at the end of the hall. At the sight of me and Rumple her eyes doubled in size. Zelena smiled at her, holding up the dagger.

"Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" Zelena asked. "This is more powerful than your true love." Belle held her ground, glaring at the witch that puppeted us both.

"No!" Belle hissed. "I refuse to believe that."

"Belle," Rumple begged. "Go." Zelena walked right up to the girl, about to pass her before Belle spoke up again and Rumple and I stopped, waiting for Zelena to continue moving.

"No!" Belle exclaimed. "You put him through enough pain."

"And I'm not nearly done!" Zelena snapped back, waving the dagger and causing Belle to collapse. Rumple caught her. "Your taste in women really has gone downhill, Rumple." She turned the hall. I followed her, having to step over Belle to get past. "Leave her dearie! Chop! Chop!"

I could feel Regina's presence around the next corner. "This is not going to be pretty," I heard her say. I felt Henry turn the hall, away from the fight.

"No it won't," Zelena agreed.

"Take another step and I'll roast you," Regina threatened, snarling at her older sister.

"Please," Zelena said, annoyed before she waved her arm and sent Regina flying back several steps, and knocking her unconscious. Zelena stared at her younger sister for a moment, meeting Rumple's gaze before she started messing with the protection spell on the door. She glanced at Rumple and I. "Why don't you be a dear and help me open this door?"

She stepped over her sister. Rumple and I held up out hands, magic coming and snapping the protection spell like an egg. My heart dropped when it broke. The fact that I could do nothing made me want to kill myself. The fact that I was only a puppet.

Only a puppet. Zelena walked in the room. I could hear a crash on the inside. I knew she had thrown someone against the wall. After a few moments of mumbling, I heard Snow's cry and I became devoured in a cloud of green smoke.

—

Zelena hummed to the youngest heir, holding him in a blanket and walked up to her house. Rumple and I exchanged glances again. I swallowed a lump in my throat, only feeling grief and pain. I could do nothing to protect him.

"It's alright little one," Zelena purred. "We're almost home." I sent a glare to the back of her head. She continued to hum as she walked up the steps and into her home, Rumple and I behind.

As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she spoke again. "Kaleen, dear, get a basket for the little one." I glared at her again, heart pounding, knowing she would kill that child soon enough. I walked into her living room and grabbed one, placing it on the table. Zelena placed the child in my hands, not into the basket that she asked me to get. "We can't waste time, come now."

I cradled the child against me. "Why do you need him?" I asked. "What does this child have to do with your plan?"

"You still don't know my motives," she glanced at me, walking out of the back of the house. Rumple walked behind me as I carried the child and she carried the basket. "It will all make sense in a moment, my dear."

I glared at her again, holding the child tighter as if I could protect him, even though I knew I couldn't. She had my heart and could tell me to do anything.

Even kill the child. Fear knotted in my insides.

She pushed open the doors to the shed. At that moment, I saw her ingredients; Regina's heart, courage, a golden brain, made by Rumple and finally, the basket she placed on the final side. She stood in the center and took a deep breath.

That's when it clicked.

Courage. The Heart. Brains. Those were all ingredients for a time travel spell, but that spell has never been successful—ever. "You're going back in time," I thought out loud. "To the moment when your mother abandoned you."

She turned to me with a smile on her face. "Smart girl."

"This spell will kill you, Zelena," I hissed, holding the child tightly. "It has never been successful." Zelena walked over to me, sending a look at Rumple I couldn't place and took the child from my hands. Guilt knotted in my insides. I stood there for a moment as she placed him in the basket.

"That's because it's always been missing something, dearie," she said as she turned back to me. "Two thing, actually."

"The child is one?" I asked. She smirked.

"And you're the other." The color drained from my face. She laughed at me and pulled me forward. "Your magic at least. Fairy magic."

"I am not a fairy, Zelena."

"You were trained by one," she continued. Her next words were right next to my ear. "And that's close enough." She turned her attention to the objects. "Link the ingredients together, darling. That's all I need from you."

"And you can't do it yourself?" I questioned. She laughed at me again.

"Fairy magic, Kaleen," she said as she walked around me. Rumple now stood behind both of us. "In you is wild and untamed. Fairies helped build the laws of magic, and only their magic can bend them." I hadn't noticed that a string of magic came out of my hands with a golden strand and floated through the air, linking the child with the brains, heart and sword. When it completed the circle, magic rushed through the shed and the link disappeared, but I could still feel its presence.

I stepped back to stand with Rumple, a silent command. Zelena waved her hands in the center of the circular design in the middle and the magic amplified, twisting to the center, where very slowly, a portal opened. She smiled and stared down as all I could feel wa guilt and despair. She glanced up at us.

"Don't worry," she cooed at us. "When this is over, you two won't remember a thing and a whole new world will be mine."

"It isn't over yet."

Zelena whipped around to see David, Emma, Regina, Robin Hood and my father stalk forward, each carrying their own weapons.

"Who's going to stop me?" Zelena questioned. "Certainly not the savior." Emma motioned her head to David, mumbling words I couldn't hear. Hood said something to Regina and walked off with David to where is son was. Hook and Emma walked to the other side, leaving Regina in the center, staring at Zelena with a hate in her eyes.

"Zelena, stop this now," Regina hissed. "We're not going to let you succeed."

Zelena chuckled and motioned the dagger in Rumple's direction. "Rid me of those pets." She turned her head to me. "Protect the child, won't you dear?" I stalked up to David's child just as he was about to pick him up and threw up backwards.

"I'm so sorry, David," my words trembled. "Please forgive me." Rumple threw Emma and Hook backwards. When David walked forward again, he held his sword out in front of him.

"Kaleen," he said. "Don't make me do this."

Zelena suddenly lifted Regina up in a chokehold. "Only light magic can harm me and you're as dark as they come." Zelena hissed. "It was your destiny to be this way and will also be your undoing!"

"Don't...tell me...what I can be!" Regina grunted hatefully. Zelena smiled darkly.

"I tried to be good once, but it wasn't in the cards," she chuckled. "This is who I am and it's who you are!" As David attempted to take his child back, I thrusted my arm forward and ended up holding him in a chokehold.

"You're wrong sis," Regina gasped. I threw David back, continuing to apologize as his back met the hay. Regina smiled as white magic engulfed her hands.

"What are you doing?!" Zelena exclaimed in panic.

"Changing," Regina said as she shot the light magic forward, striking Zelena so she flew through the air, dropping the dagger she held in her hand. "I make my own destiny." Regina stalked up to Zelena, ripping off her pendent and the sack that she held my heart in. "You failed. You're not going anywhere." The portal closed.

I physically collapsed to the ground, free from Zelena's control. I held my hand out and my heart flew through the air into my own grasp. I pushed it back into my chest as David walked forward again.

"I beg to differ," Rumple growled. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to me." Before Rumple could kill Zelena, Regina had picked up his dagger and forced him to step back. I stood up to my full height.

"Enough," Regina said. "This ends now."

"After everything this witch has done, you're going to protect her?" Rumple hissed. "She killed my son! Enslaved me! Enslaved the fairy!"

"The fairy has a name," I mumbled as I bent down a scooped up the child in my hands. I pressed a kiss to his forehead, apologizing. David continued to walk forward.

"You can't be serious," Rumple whispered.

Regina glanced at her sister. "I am. Heroes don't kill."

"So now you're a hero?" Zelena mocked. Regina gave her sister a smile, one that mocked her.

"Today I am."

"You're not going to throw me back right?" David asked as he came up from behind me. A screech came from behind. I whipped around, clutching the savior's brother as a flying monkey came down.

"David!" I exclaimed, ready to use magic on my own accord. David swung his sword, stopping short when the creature transformed into Little John. He stared at me for a moment. "Little John?"

David pulled him up and went for the child I held in my hands. "David, I'm so sorry," I said. He glanced at me for a moment, holding the child on his arms.

"I forgive you, trust me," he replied. "You still have an oath. I know you will keep it."

"David!" Emma said. "The baby. Is he okay?"

"Yeah," David replied. "He can handle anything. Just like his big sister." David walked to his daughter, child in hand.

—

It had been after Snow had met her child for the first time, when I saw the look of relief in her eyes. I hugged Henry and made sure he was alright, since my hands had wrapped around his throat only earlier that day. My father was the most relieved when I was out of Zelena's control.

I questioned why I went back to her.

I waited until David had left the office before transporting myself in there. She sat in the cell, back facing me, wearing all black. She didn't even hear me come in. The setting sun faded through the window, making the room look almost orange.

"Why?" I asked. She whipped around, eyes wide, staring past the bars before she realized it was only me. A warm smile came to her face.

"Kaleen, darling," she said. "Come to visit?"

"Spare me the games, Zelena," I shook my head, staring at her. "I just need to know why." I stepped closer to her cell. "Why did you take me? Why did you keep me around and don't tell me it was for the spell because I know damn well it was something else." Her warm smile faded from her face. I couldn't even read the expression on her face. "Why didn't you want to kill me? Why not Regina and I both?"

She stood up. "We're the same, you know," she said without a tone in the way she spoke. "I don't want to kill you, Kaleen. I never wanted to." My gaze narrowed and I crossed my arms.

"You wanted to kill Regina," I said. "Her and I got a home, training with magic." Zelena smirked at that statement. "What?"

"Both of us weren't trusted with a simple spell," Zelena snapped. I said nothing for a moment. "Rumple ignored me just as the Blue Fairy ignored you."

"She raised me," I hissed. "The fairies raised me. I learned plenty. She had many things to do besides tend to everything I wanted."

"She didn't teach you how strong your magic is," Zelena was inches from my face. "Your magic could rival the savior's and the fairies told you nothing." She cocked her head. "How do you think you can see the future, visions?"

"How do you know—"

"That's how I communicated with you," she smirked. "In the Enchanted Forest." I stared at her for a moment.

"You made my visions worse to get me to leave…"

"I didn't want you in the way," she said. I took a physical step away from her, not noticing that I was digging my nails into my palms.

"But why? Fear? Did you know I could defeat you?" I challenged. She sighed and shook her head. I paused for a second. I thought out loud. "If Blue knew they needed light magic to defeat you...why didn't she just…" My gaze snapped back to that evil smile. "You kept her from contacting me!"

"Yes." She didn't even deny it.

"Why!" I exclaimed. "Why do you want me out of the way! You already knew I could defeat you with light magic but I know that not the only reason." I held her gaze for the longest time before I saw what it was. The way she always looked at me, almost a longing for someone...to care about.

"You are the only family that would care about me," she whispered. "The only one who would be willing to give me a second chance. I wanted...in the new world I created for you to be with me."

"And if I was never born?" I questioned. She was silent with that. "If you had just come peacefully, we would have." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Goodbye, Zelena." Before she could speak, I teleported into my room and sat down on my bed, breathing heavily and still trying to process her words.

The door opened and my head snapped up. My father walked into the room, meeting my gaze with a smile. "Kaleen."

"Father," I nodded my head to him and stood up. In a burst on energy, he embraced me, hard and held me for a second.

"I thought I lost you…"

"I'm right here, father," I replied in a soft whisper. "I'm right here." He held me until I thought there was nothing else


End file.
